“You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men. Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ; ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart” (II Corinthians 3:2-3). Thus wrote the Apostle Paul to the Church at Corinth.

Your life is a living letter, known and read of all men. You stand out in the minds of others. They have an opinion of you. They know you by your accent. When Peter denied knowing Christ at His trial, the people said, “Surely you are one of them (disciples); for you are a Galilean, and your speech agrees thereto” (Matthew 14:70). There must have been a Northern Israel (Galilee) accent that the people could recognize, and Peter could not hide it. When you are in Christ, your spiritual accent from the Holy will always give you away.

People know you by your scent, your fragrance. “For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life; and who is sufficient for these things?” (II Corinthians 2:15-16). To your Brethren you are a fragrance of the Life of Christ; but to the unbelievers you are the smell of death, because they are convicted of their sin.

People read you; not always by what you do, but by what you do not do. You don’t enter into their sin. Your speech betrays you. You do not gossip, you do not use profane and vulgar language, you keep your speech clean and wholesome. That’s very different than what you hear in the world. You are different, strange, other worldly, heavenly minded, perhaps?

You are a witness to and a Love Letter from God to the world. By your kindness, your gentleness, your love and mercy and tender care for others you show forth the fruit of the Spirit of Christ. Your humility, meekness and patience show the Nature of the Lamb. Your strength of endurance, your hope in the middle of a hopeless situation, your self control when everyone else is out of their minds with panic; yes, people notice. They read you like a book.

Keep being that “Galilean,” with your strange accent, keep giving off the fragrance of Christ, keep being God’s Love Letter to the world. Your story has a good ending; well, eventually. After you suffer awhile, endure hardship awhile, bear your cross awhile, suffer persecution awhile. . . you will live happily ever after. The End.