The Aroma of CHRIST!

To obey, we need humility. Look at the Son of God, Jesus has come to the world and He is obedient to The Father and obedient to Joseph and Mary.
We have to love God's will and desire to respond to His call. We have to be obedient to our parents, to our bosses, a wife to her husband. And yes to the Government too. Wherever obedience is asked it must be given.

Marriage is a sacrament, in Christ and in the Church, says Paul. It is a permanent contract between a man and a woman. The sacrament of matrimony, instituted by Christ, cannot be dissolved. Jesus Christ fills the souls of husband and wife and invites them to follow Him.

Only sacrifice and self-denial lead to true love.

To be obedient means that self is dead. Christ was obedient to death, and we are stronger in Christ-nothing more powerful than that. It is Christ Who lives in us. 

All of Paradise was given to Adam and Eve except the tree of life. They were specifically told not to eat from that tree. Having everything and prohibited to stay away from an Apple tree made it so compelling for them to want what they were told to avoid. A bit of greed, a challenge in their self to go one up on God caused them to in a way rebel and challenge God. It is disobedience that caused them an exit from Paradise.

And God's will is fulfilled in the simplest of circumstances: The birth of Jesus, Mary gives birth to Jesus in a stable. It is the moment God chose to show the extent of His love for men, by giving us His own Son and by making Jesus accessible to all.

Jesus Christ is seeking us - we are to co-redeem, by striving to triumph not over our neighbour, but over ourselves. Like Christ we are to empty ourselves, to consider ourselves as the servants of others, and so to bring them to God.

The Lord’s call: "I have called you by your name. You are mine." Isaiah 43:1

Our treasure is Christ and all our love and desire must be centred on Him, "for where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also."

We are the treasures of God. He treasures us. In God’s heart, His heartbeat is what we are. It is because of which He sent His only Son into the world. 

Be sublime like the Rose that perfumes the hand that crushes it. When my Hindi Teacher signed my autograph book with these words, back then, I knew there was a deeper meaning but it was not my time to understand. Over the years it has impacted me in so many ways. 
And here I am, passionately in love with Christ. The desire to be like Him. And all for Love. But now it makes sense. I will refrain from using the word like. I will say – Always be Christ. The word like, could lay the emphasis that this could be a 25% or 50%. No we have to aim high, we have to be the whole Christ in essence. We should desire to live a noble life which gives off the "aroma of Christ." Our words and actions must be the essence of His aroma so as to sow understanding and friendship. We should accompany others so that no one is left, or can feel being left or abandoned. Our charity has to be affectionate, full of human warmth, tenderness and compassion. The love that lifts one and all.

This is what Christianity is all about. If a Christian does not love with deeds, he has failed as a Christian, besides failing as a person. Do not use people for whatever your needs are and do not mistreat people. Everybody is a child of God. Be mindful of everybody — and of all those who are at your side. Hurt Nobody. One must not torment others. A Christian is one who loves and is not taken aback by trials.

As God's children our love has to be one that is here now and forever. This is the "aroma of Christ" that made those who lived among our first brothers in the faith exclaim-See how they love one another!

We cannot exclude anyone. His arms, in the manger, are those of a child; but they are the same arms that are extended on the Cross drawing all men to Himself.
Jesus came for ALL! Everybody is welcome!

When God says something to do – you do. Jesus the Son of God, for the 9 months in the womb of Mary, had to go through all the stages of human life. Then as a baby, He was dependent on His parents Mary and Joseph. 
Born in a stable, kept in a manger, Jesus reminds us through Christmas what the act of obedience is and the JOY it brings the whole world. No wonder then the whole world loves Christmas! What we all forget though is what obedience is all about, it is the Yes from Mary, it is the Yes from Joseph and a Yes from Jesus. This then, this sweet fragrance of Joy and Love is the Aroma of Christ.

Love paves the way to obedience.