Some days, it’s easy to get discouraged. Our world is riddled with a plethora of problems. The fabric of our society is rotting and decaying around us and that doesn’t smell so good. As Christ-followers, we’re supposed to be the salt that preserves and slows the decomposition. But it doesn’t always feel like we’re making a difference.

But then there are days like today when I get a whiff that’s beautiful, appealing, and pure. I smelled the aroma of Christ today.

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.” II Cor. 2:14-16.

This morning, I sat in on the servant leadership meeting with the Cru (Campus Crusade) students. On our small campus, these students have boldly planted their stake in the ground and declared their allegiance to Christ. There is no turning back for them; no anonymity. They are all in positions of influence around campus where their faith in Christ is known and observed to see if it’s real. Students approach them to talk about Jesus. During a brief sharing time today, I heard stories of sorority girls filing in and out of their sister’s room to talk about spiritual things; of a football player beginning a relationship with Christ last week; of a student with a heavy burden coming to his RA for prayer; of freshmen students thronging to the first meeting.

Everyone of us has people who watch us, people who we can influence. We can spread the aroma of the knowledge of him wherever we are: in our small jobs, in our families, in our neighborhoods.

The sweet smell of Jesus draws students to these servant leaders. They are making a difference in their corner of the world, helping to reverse some of the decay on campus. They are the aroma that brings life. We can be that aroma, too.