Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I pray you are well.
It’s the worst! Someone with bad breath wants to talk with you, and they have to be uncomfortably close…. Gross!! Worse yet? They pay no attention to your body language! Anyone else would see you are ready to pass out, but not them; they don’t have a clue. In God’s mind, you have terrible breath when you do not speak words of forgiveness, grace, the Gospel, encouragement, confession, prayers for others, Jesus….
True story: Nathaniel Hawthorne was fired. Coming home dejected, he found a joyful wife. She was glad he was fired. “Now you can write your book!,” she said with a smile. “How will we live?” was answered by showing him the money she had been saving out of housekeeping. She believed in her husband, and because she did, he went on to write The Scarlet Letter.
Sometimes a loved one does need gentle correction. It will produce much greater results if your words carry the fresh and beautiful aroma of Christ. Hebrews 3:13 tells us “… encourage one another daily…..” I believe it was Mark Twain who said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” You will have much greater influence if you follow the wisdom of Scripture.
The words that God speaks over you in your Baptism, in the consecration of Communion, in Absolution, the Creeds, the Lord’s Prayer, the Invocation and the Benediction–these are just some of His beautiful smelling words for you. They say the sense of smell is the strongest sense of all. So, what does your breath smell like?
God bless your day!
V/r,
Pastor Jim