Hurting the Holy Spirit

March 23

Hurting the Holy Spirit

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30)

In our tough manly world we sometimes prize the fact that we are not easily hurt or offended by people’s insults and actions toward us. Such bravado brings us admiration from more sensitive people who wish that they could be as tough as we are. They wish that they could put on the stoicism that hides the pain that they are actually feeling as they see the tougher people do.

However, when we study deeply what it means to grieve the Holy Spirit we discover that He is a very sensitive person who can be hurt just as much, if not more, than the most sensitive person we may know. Yet, the fact that He continues to put up with us demonstrates a remarkable amount of toughness that comes as the result of His love. This gives a new meaning to the phrase “tough love”. It is love that takes pain from those He loves.

Unlike most sensitive humans, though, the Holy Spirit is not offended for selfish reasons. He is grieved by how we often mistreat each other or fail to act like Him in our responses to one another. In the following verses we read:

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. (Eph. 4:31-32)

It is our failure to take on the same characteristics as Christ that truly grieves Him. When we choose to be bitter towards other people and hold grudges rather than forgiving them, we are literally ignoring the Spirit of Love who indwells us. We are telling Him that His ways are irrelevant and that we will handle relationships in a more devilish way—the way of the fallen nature from which we were redeemed.

God the Holy Spirit is a tenderhearted person. He is kind and very forgiving. He wants us to see this about Him and take on these same attributes. Everything that He is, He wants us to be and He empowers us to be that way. He never becomes bitter toward us nor does He speak evil of us. He loves us. He wants us to love Him and one another. Let us stop grieving Him and begin loving our brothers and sisters in Christ as well as all those we meet with on a daily basis.

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