This is something I posted Oct.30, 2010
I used to wonder what it meant to "grieve the Holy Spirit". I thought this was a good explanation, although it may mean more than this.
Ephesians 4:29-32
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."
This is an excerpt from "Our Journey," by James Macdonald
"When you gave your life to Christ, the Holy Spirit came to live with you. Now he's never leaving. When Jesus says, "I will never leave you or forsake you," he's talking about the ministering presence of the Holy Spirit in your life.
In Today's passage, where it says, "do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were sealed, the point is that the Holy Spirit can't go anywhere. He's not leaving. Everywhere you go? He goes. Everything you say? He hears. Everything you feel? He bears with, and when we are unforgiving, we grieve the Holy Spirit.
The word grieve there is lupeo; it means to wound or to injure. We grieve the Spirit of God when we hold back forgiveness and cultivate bitterness in our heart. The Spirit of God who came to be resident within us can't go anywhere. So he has to live with these damaging, destructive, sinful choices that we make to hang on to our injury and disappointment with people instead of displacing it and releasing it through forgiveness.
We don't live alone. Considering our internal companion should give us continual motivation for the way we live."
3 comments:
This is really good. Sometimes I feel Him grieved when others around me speak against Jesus and His church. The other day I was in the sauna at the gym and these young girls were speaking about how they "had" to go to church on Easter. How they hated the church. My Spirit wanted to cry. The most amazing thing is that the Spirit was whispering "I love them" anyway. No matter how they hurt Jesus, He loves. What kind of love is this.....amazing Love.
Blessings,
Tammy
This is so true and I'm glad you pointed it out. I went through a period of being angry at God and He loved me and kept calling me anyway. Thanks.
What a blessed assurance to know, 'Now he's never leaving'. He wants the best for us and wants to ensure we have the best, by being constantly with us.
Great post with food for thought!
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