Ephesians 4:29-32 NKJV
“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary [h]edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, [i]clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
To grieve means to make sad or sorrowful. It means to cause sorrow, pain, or distress. Imagine as a believer you can make God sorrowful and cause him pain through the kind of behavior you decide to adopt. That’s a heavy statement that every believer needs to think about at length. Imagine God the creator of heaven and earth being sorrowful on your account.
Many of us grieve the Holy Spirit and we don’t think much about it. Today’s scriptures highlight several things that we can do which end up grieving the Holy Spirit.
When as believers we choose to speak words that corrupted and not true then we grieve the Holy Spirit. When we speak evil of others and allow all kind of foul talk to come forth from our mouths then we grieve him.
Holding on to bitterness anger and wrath, unforgiveness is something else that grieves the Holy Spirit. The verses preceding these tell us not to allow the sun to go down while we are still in our anger.
How many of us are walking around with anger, wrath and unforgiveness in our hearts and we are not willing to forgive yet God has forgiven us? In fact, Jesus did tell us that if we are not willing to forgive our brother then our Father in heaven will not forgive us.
When we choose to allow the flesh to direct how we live our life and how we respond to issues instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to do so then we end up grieving him. God knows what best for us and when we make choices that are contrary to that will then it grieves him.
May we learn to walk with Him and allow Him to change us from the inside out!
Are the words you speak good for edification or do they spew hatred and jealousy cutting whomever comes into contact with them? Are you quick to forgive or does it take you years before you let go, have you accommodated wrath and bitterness in your life? What do you need to do to ensure that you do not grieve the Holy Spirit?
