Walking in the Fragrance of Love: How We Smell to God

Have you ever thought about how you smell to God?

It's an unusual question, isn't it? Yet the Apostle Paul uses this exact metaphor in Ephesians 5, describing our lives as either a fragrant offering or something far less pleasant. Just as our physical noses can detect danger, sweetness, or decay, God perceives the spiritual aroma of our daily walk with Him.

The question isn't whether we're wearing the right spiritual cologne. It's about whether we're imitating the one fragrance that pleases God most: the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ.

The Call to Imitation

"Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Imitate God? That seems like an impossible task. We can't speak universes into existence. We can't create morality from our own being. So what does it actually mean to be an imitator of God?

The answer lies in understanding our position. We're not called to imitate God as strangers trying to mimic a celebrity. We're called to imitate Him as beloved children—adopted into His family, empowered by His Spirit, and equipped with His revealed Word.

To imitate God requires two essential components: His written Word to know who He is and what He's about, and His Holy Spirit to empower our walk. Without these, imitation becomes impossible. Those outside of Christ cannot truly imitate God because they lack the spiritual operating system necessary for the task.

Walking in Love

The passage breaks down this imitation into three distinct ways of walking, and the first is walking in love.

But what does "walk in love" actually mean? The word "walk" here is a metaphor for how we live our entire lives—how we move through the world, what governs our decisions, where we work, how we treat others, and what guides our steps.

The preposition "in" is crucial. It describes what governs and covers our walk. Think of it like the operating system of a self-driving car. When God saves us, He gives us a brand new operating system—a new heart sensitive to His Word and His Spirit. We're meant to be governed by this new system, responsive to God's direction as we navigate life's roads.

And what governs this walk? Love. Not just any love, but agape love—the selfless, sacrificial, unconditional, long-suffering kind of love that considers others more important than ourselves. It's the love that gives rather than takes, forgives rather than holds grudges, and perseveres through difficulty.

What does this love look like in action? It looks like a man on a cross with arms stretched wide, crying out, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

The Dark Contrast

After painting this beautiful picture of walking in love, Paul immediately pivots to a stark warning: "But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you... Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking."

Why the sudden shift? Because the flesh is governed by anti-love—by selfishness. While true love gives sacrificially, sin takes selfishly without considering the other party.

Sexual immorality, impurity, and covetousness represent actions that violate God's design and hurt His image-bearers. Sexual immorality violates the sacred design God created for intimacy. Impurity represents being led by our immediate passions rather than by God's Spirit—following our stomachs or our livers, as Shakespeare might say, instead of following Christ. Covetousness is that ever-present desire for what we don't have, constantly chasing the next thing rather than finding contentment in what God has provided.

These aren't just physical actions either. Our words reveal what governs our hearts. When we engage in foolish talk or crude joking that makes light of sin, we're not just being harmless or funny—we're actually reshaping our perception of God. We're training ourselves to find joy in the wrong things.

The heart of a Christian should find greater excitement in diving into God's Word than in consuming the entertainment our culture offers. This isn't about becoming joyless, but about discovering where true, lasting joy actually comes from.

Walking as Children of Light

"For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true."

What a transformation! We weren't just in darkness—we were darkness. But now we are light. This isn't just a change of location; it's a change of identity.

No one wants to stumble around in a dark room, bumping into furniture and hitting their head. Yet that's exactly what life without God's Word looks like. Scripture serves as a flashlight, a lantern, a light unto our feet that allows us to see clearly and walk confidently.

Walking as children of light involves three crucial steps when dealing with sin:

Discern: Is this thing of God? We must be saturated in God's Word to develop this discernment. We can't read road signs in a language we don't know.

Detach: If something isn't of God, we must separate ourselves from it. These are the weights that slow us down in our spiritual race.

Expose: God's Word and God's people help expose the things that would harm us. God shields us from sin's destruction by revealing what's hiding in our hearts.

Walking in Wisdom

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil."

Wisdom is simply good knowledge put into action. It's not enough to know what's true; we must live it out. We must act on what God has revealed.

We live in days of darkness where sin actively works in the world around us. We were once part of that army of darkness, but God rescued us and gave us new life. Now we're called to walk differently—not just to know different things, but to live differently.

This requires intimate familiarity with God's Word. We can't simply rely on what others tell us about God; we must encounter Him ourselves in Scripture. We must test everything against what He has revealed, opening our Bibles and saying, "Is this true? Does this align with what God has said?"

The Fragrant Life

So we return to our original question: How do you smell to God?

God delights in the aroma of His children walking in sacrificial love. When we forgive as we've been forgiven, when we consider others above ourselves, when we speak words that build up rather than tear down, when we find our contentment in Christ rather than in things—that's when we become a fragrant offering.

The Christian life isn't about perfection. It's about walking in tension with sin rather than comfort. When we sin, we should feel torn—split between our new nature that loves God and our flesh that still battles against Him. This tension is actually a sign of spiritual life.

But we don't walk alone. We have God's Word as our guide, God's Spirit as our power, and God's people as our companions. We're beloved children of a Father who sings over us, who shields us from destruction, and who calls us to watch and follow His ways.

The question isn't whether you'll stumble. The question is: What governs your walk? What operating system are you running on? Are you being led by the Spirit of God into sacrificial love, or are you following your immediate passions wherever they lead?

Walk in love. Walk as a child of light. Walk in wisdom.

And become the fragrance of Christ to a world that desperately needs to smell something good.