“Have you smelled like Jesus lately?” This odd question can help us to think hard about living like Jesus did.

In some ways it can be easy to look like Jesus—that is, to imitate his actions. We can feed the hungry and give things to people who need them. We can offer a cup of cold water to someone who is thirsty, and we can forgive when we are wronged. These are righteous and good actions that all believers should aim to practice.

But what does it mean to smell like Jesus? Well, it’s not actually about having a smell or aroma. It’s about showing the love of God and the character of Jesus from deep within your heart and soul, and this leads others to respond in a way like people did when Jesus lived among them. If we represent Jesus as God calls us to, we are like “an aroma that brings life” to people who are seeking God and open to his leading, and we are like “an aroma that brings death” to people who reject God and want nothing to do with him. Of course, we don’t want people to reject God. We hope that showing his love will help people see that God is good and wants to live with them forever. But some people still refuse, and that hurts God the most, for he is their Creator.

Like Christ, we are called to spread the good news of God’s love, and God is the one who supplies that in us—like giving us a smell or aroma that shows we are representing him, as Jesus himself did.