“But thank God! He has made us His captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now He uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.”
He is using us, we must remember that we are His children and we have a purpose for being alive. It is not just for our benefit and for our fleshly desires, it is so people can see and (smell) His fragrance from us. This will never be an easy task because people will always appose the truth, but it should make us work harder and desire to learn more about Jesus. Look what it says in verse 15, “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.” See we can't make people perceive it differently without planting seeds and then taking the time to water it. We are all not good at planting seeds so we connect with people around us and we strengthen each other to do His work.
We know we are many parts in one body and that's how God wants to use us to change the Kingdom of God. See what it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verses 21-26, “The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.”
See when we take the time to understand what God would like us to do our focus comes off just pleasing ourselves and we have a fragrance that could be pleasing to others. And the ones that don't like the fragrance (unbelievers) we keep shining and loving because God is the only one that can make them grow. Believe in Him and live knowing we have a purpose and it does matter what we do because people are watching. Amen