ODB: Grieve not the Spirit
January 14, 2012
The Christian’s heart is the Spirit’s home.
READ: Ephesians 4:25-32
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever. —John 14:16
If money were missing mysteriously from your wallet, you would be angry. But if you discovered that your child was the one who stole it, your anger would quickly turn into grief. One use of the word grief is to describe the sorrow we feel when those we love disappoint us.
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Eph. 4:30) essentially means not to hurt the One who loves us and is here to help us. For we read Jesus’ words in John 14:26 that the Holy Spirit is sent to us by the Father to be our Helper.
When the Holy Spirit in us is grieved by our actions or attitudes, the result can be tremendous tension. The Spirit pulls us in one direction, but the lusts of the flesh pulls us in another. Paul describes this in Galatians 5:17, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” If this continues, we may begin to feel guilty and dissatisfied with life. Soon, joy and vigor may diminish within us, only to be replaced by listlessness and lethargy (Ps. 32:3-4).
So do not grieve the Holy Spirit who was given in love to help you. “Put away” the bad choices of the flesh (Eph. 4:31), and live faithfully for God.
— Albert Lee
Source: Our Daily Bread
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One of the marks of a truly born again Christian is the love for God. Today message once again highlights the distress that God is going through when we disobey or when we choose to disappoint Him. I believe and thankful for negative emotions that we can experience and definitely He can identify with us as much as He wants us to identify with Him. Negative emotions also allow or make aware us when things that are happening, either by our doing or others, are not in accordance to God’s standard not just for our conscience sake. Indeed, the Holy Spirit is not only alive in us but also actively involve in our daily lives. Praise be to God!