Perfume Does Not Make the Flesh Smell Sweeter

Dressing up outward appearances is like white-washing tombstones. Unless we make evident the Life of Christ, we’re just fashionistas. I can spray lots of perfume on a stinky person and make them smell nicer, but there is no fragrance that can cover the flesh. The only aroma that testifies to the Life of Christ is the fragrance of Christ’s own presence. And this scent is sweeter than anything found on earth.

“Great sorrow awaits you religious scholars and Pharisees—frauds and imposters! You are nothing more than tombs painted with fresh coats of white paint—tombs that look shining and beautiful on the outside, but within are found decaying corpses full of nothing but corruption. Outwardly you masquerade as righteous people, but inside your hearts you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Matthew 23:27-28 TPT

Living Under Perfume

Many, unfortunately, focus on external appearances while neglecting the internal reality. It would seem an easier task and less messy. Polish the external and forgo the extensive work of maintaining a life worth living. Some believe, “Make the outside clean and the internal will resolve itself”—but NO! It never works this way. While the reverse is true (resolve the internal and the outside will follow), focusing on the surface only makes us rather vapid. If I want to live scratching the surface of reality, I can choose to do so. But I won’t have anything deeper than two dimensions to contribute, certainly nothing with any true substance.

Life is lived in the depths of Christ. His fragrance is sweeter and more meaningful than any fabreezing I might attempt over my life. If I want a life of substance, I must let Christ live it. His is the only Life that can pass the sniff test.

Christ’s Life is a Sweet Aroma

Imagine, Christ came to be the very life which the Father requires of us! Our righteousness is found in Him. And though not everyone will find His aroma pleasing, it is the only one that pleases our Heavenly Father. I no longer have to work on bleaching and deodorizing my life; Jesus comes in to express His Life through me. So intimate! Through deep love and relational fellowship, I walk in union with the divine.

Is this easy? No! So, what is the barrier? Believing. Faith is my entrance, but a wall of unbelief is the only thing standing between me and His amazing reality. As long as I look to my old nature to perform or produce a life worth living, I will remain sorely disappointed. Statements like, “But I am ______!” and “I can’t do it!” are simply indicators that I am in unbelief rather than faith. Faith doesn’t count on my flesh to produce; faith looks to Christ to present His beautiful Life. This is His earnest desire, and I must disavow arrogant thoughts that say it’s impossible or unreal. This is a battle, but it is the fight of leaving the unreal and touching the Real.

We have become the unmistakable aroma of the victory of the Anointed One to God—a perfume of life to those being saved and the odor of death to those who are perishing.
2 Corinthians 2:15 TPT