The Fragrance of Love

 

Mary took a pound of ointment of pure liquid nard [a rare perfume] that was very expensive, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. – John 12:3 (AMPC)

I’m sure that you all know the proverbial phrase “Love don’t cost a thing”, the simple meaning being that true love is free. Which it is depending on how you look at it but is it perfectly true that there isn't a cost? Because God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son (John 3:16) who paid a very high price for our redemption, and the perfume that Mary poured on Jesus’ feet, which Judas Iscariot described as worth a year’s wages for an ordinary work man (John 12:5), was rare and very expensive.

These were acts of love and they certainly cost a thing.

Both acts were done out of genuine, authentic love and both carried an extremely high price, so love, true love – love that’s real – costs something and in certain instances, everything.

This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us. – 1 John 3:16 (ERV)

Are you willing to lay down your life in love for others; to pour out everything you cherish, to pay a great price, whatever the cost may be?

Mary, like Jesus, held nothing back. Their acts were signs of the authenticity of their love – love in its deepest form that gives generously and selflessly. The worth of such love can’t be measured.

The fragrance that filled the house wasn’t just the sweet aroma of Mary’s perfume but was symbolic of the sacrificial offering of a life fully given over to God in love, similarly, Jesus, in love, gave over His life to God as a sacrifice for us.

Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God – Ephesians 5:20 (NIV)

Beloved, genuine acts of love are not restrained but are poured out as an offering of yourself as you surrender everything that you have and are to God.

Love poured out changes the atmosphere around it and affects those in its wake in unimaginable ways.

During this season of Lent, may God, who is Love, teach you how to love as unselfishly as He loves, free your heart from holding back, and loosen whatever keeps you restrained, so that your life will exude the fragrance of love.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “The Fragrance of Love” ©2026 March 16, 2026