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Grieving The Holy Spirit

         And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:30-32)

 Can you imagine a better way to start over than by somehow – even miraculously – stopping grieving someone you care for? My immediate response to an accusation that I’ve hurt someone is that I didn’t mean to. Part of the problem is that Scripture speaks a great deal about God, the Father, and Jesus, the Son, but what’s said about the Spirit is more abstract. And when I hear that still, small voice, is it God speaking to me? Or the devil? Or the world? Or just my own imagination? It's not like we get a note lowered on a fishing line or an announcement from on high that everyone hears. It can be hard to think of the Spirit as a Person and not just some vague, foggy shape that we only see out of the corner of our eyes.

It seems critical to consider what grieves the Holy Spirit. Fortunately, Paul put this idea in the middle of a list of instructions. And, having checked the Greek, this passage does begin with the word we translate as “AND.” That means the things we’ve explored over the past several days are

I        Put off falsehood and speak truthfully

II       In your anger, do not sin

III      Stop stealing and work

IV      Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, and…

V       Do not grieve the Holy Spirit.

It might be said that I through IV all lead up to and are part of V. It wouldn’t be wise to say categorically that lying, sinning in our anger, stealing, and saying unwholesome things don’t grieve the Holy Spirit, but based on the grammar involved, the things Paul says after the command not to grieve the Holy Spirit seem more connected. He sums up nicely everything that has gone before by saying to get rid of all the filth and be kind, compassionate, and forgiving. And what word sums that all up? Love. To avoid grieving the Holy Spirit, we must love one another.

Funny how it always comes back to that, but at the same time, it’s no longer about doing something involving that vague, foggy shape. We do what is necessary to not grieve the Spirit through our interactions with flesh and blood. That makes it easier and harder.

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