Ephesians 4:30-32
Verse 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Having spent some time with watching our mouths, we move on to other things that give us opportunity to resolve to live for eternity.
Paul is telling his friends in Ephesus that they need to keep from grieving the Holy Spirit. To understand this as fully as we can, we need to understand the truth of who the Holy Spirit is. The Spirit is not an “it”, He is a part of the Trinity and therefore is God. He isn’t a lesser form of God, He is God. In Old Testament times He would come upon people for a certain purpose to help them do something that would have been too much for their natural capabilities and then would leave them. But after Jesus ascended back to Heaven, the Holy Spirit came and filled the believers never to leave them.
This living in His people is the reason that we can grieve Him. Because of His being in us, when we allow sin to move into our life or live in our lives we are trying to make Him coexist with sin and He just can’t do that. His holiness and the “unholiness” of sin, will fight against each other but it is more than that. When we are OK with allowing sin in our lives we are saying we don’t care about keeping His space clean and that ultimately means that we don’t really care about Him.
This should bring us to a place in our lives that causes us to examine what is really important to us. While we know He won’t leave those that are called by God and believe on Him for their salvation, that doesn’t mean He will always be comfortable in the space of our lives. When we give little thought to the sin in our lives, we miss what it means to be in good relationship with Him.
Like in any relationship, communication is important. When we grieve the Holy Spirit it breaks down the communication. If we have been in good relation with Him we will miss that communion that we have enjoyed in the past, but the more we grieve Him as we pursue our sin, the harder it is to remember what that sweet relationship was like. But He never forgets that bond and He tries to remind us of things we have learned from Him in the past and tries to draw us back to Himself. But when we are not walking in close communion with Him, we miss hearing His still, small voice.
Making It Personal
How readily do you listen to the conviction of the Holy Spirit? How quickly do you obey? What has He been telling you recently that you may not have been wanting to hear?
Making It Personal Kids
What are some things that the Holy Spirit may help you remember? Why is it important to listen to Him? Do you want a close relationship with Him?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for sending Your Spirit to live in and guide us. Convict us of the things that grieve Your heart and bring us to the point of surrender so that we are not continuing to grieve Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, amen.