By Tonya Jewel Blessing from the Bible study, Soothing Rain
I’ve been wearing the same perfume for over 30 years.
Every once in a while, I briefly try something new, but so far I’ve always reverted back to the familiar. The scent seems to fit me. It leaves its mark, but yet isn’t overpowering. It’s a soft blend of earthly tones that I think compliments me.
Influence is like a fragrance. It lingers. The scent is a reminder of something spoken or shared.
I’m not an “I am woman, hear me roar…” kind of gal. I prefer to live my life with grace and beauty – gently walking and touching the lives of others with more of a purr than a roar.
The Bible encourages women in 1 Peter 3:4 to cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. In living for Christ, I want to leave my mark, footprints that show me walking beside someone else in his or her journey. I don’t want to go a single day without influencing someone for Jesus.
I pray this prayer, “I will follow You with a pure heart. Show me the people you want me to impact with biblical principles, a listening ear, and encouragement for the journey of life.”
Every woman’s fragrance is different – even if the perfume is the same, once mixed with an individual’s body chemistry the scent changes.
Some fragrances are subtle, others a little more pronounced. The same is true of the inner beauty referred to in 1 Peter 3:4. Gentleness and graciousness look different on different women.
May our fragrance linger and be a reminder of God’s amazing love and grace – as a “quiet influence”.
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Well said, Tonya! I am blessed to be married to a beautiful, Godly woman like the one you described. Every Christian woman should read your post, just as a reminder of what a Godly woman is. You have also reminded me that I need to be the kind of husband who encourages and enables my wife to be that woman. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you, Mark. Many blessings to you and your wife.
Tonya, yesterday, in a moment of distress, my fragrance turned to poo! Your ever-gentleness is always a wooing reminder that the pit bull in me can and should be sat down and controlled. We may be different in personality, but I pray that we each carry the fragrance of Christ consistently.
Sometimes a pit bull is needed to get the job done. God created you and your amazing!
Beautiful expression of the lady of God’s delight.
Blessings Kathy.
I love the thought that who God made me to be is a fragrance that has influence. Powerful. Thank you.
You’re welcome. You are a beautiful fragrance unto God and others.
This is really encouraging! Thanks, Tonya, for reminding us that we leave kindness and influence in our wake — like a pleasant fragrance.
You’re welcome.