I used to feel that way...until God convicted me. Oh yes, the peace we have with our own little ideologies until the great I AM breaks in and knocks them all to pieces.
It happened in a Bible study of all places. Such a sweet group of women. All but one, of course. There was one lady who was a chain smoker. You could smell her all the way down the hall. Anxiety would rise in my chest at my first sniff of her. Because you see, she wasn’t just a smoker... she was also a hugger. Oh, yes, free hugs all day long from Miss Marlboro. I would brace myself for her embrace and then grumble in my head and heart through the whole study as I smelled her smokey fragrance clinging to my clothing.
Truthfully, I was less concerned about how she smelled than I was about how I smelled. And that is where God began to work His conviction. I was preoccupied with what I was receiving from her and not even thinking about what God might want me to give to her. Through the whispering conviction of the Holy Spirit I would begin to ask myself if I was leaving a fragrance with her?
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