By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Hebrews 11:7

Noah’s faith condemned the world because everyone had the same opportunity as Noah but they didn’t act upon it. Noah didn’t set out to condemn the world but rather it was the necessary outcome. By building an ark he expressed faith in God and exposed the lies of the world. Lies like, “it’s too hard to live by faith,” “it’s too hard to do what God asks” or “God doesn’t care whether I live by faith or not”. When one man, like Noah, lived by faith it left the rest of the world without excuse.

“For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life” (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). When we live by faith we are the “aroma of Christ” and that means to some people we will be the “smell of death”. To the world that Noah lived in, he was the “smell of death”. As we live out our faith, others will be convicted because we will inadvertently expose the lies they currently believe about God.

On the other hand, we will be the “fragrance of life” to other Christians. We will affirm their faith and be an encouragement to them, often without a word. Knowing someone else is pressing on in their Christian walk is deeply encouraging, especially when we see them growing and changing.

Let’s live by faith and be the “aroma of Christ” to those around us.