Ephesians 4:30 says, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” I have mentioned before that I am reading a book on the Spirit-filled life called Rivers of Living Water by Ruth Paxson. In this book she describes grieving as a love word, because you cannot grieve someone who does not love you. Ms. Paxson goes on to describe the ways we can grieve the Spirit who indwells us. Each point has to do with a name for the Spirit in the Word of God. These are direct quotes from the book:
- He is the Spirit of truth (John 14:17), so anything false, deceitful, hypocritical, grieves Him.
- He is the Spirit of faith (2 Cor. 4:13), so doubt, unbelief, distrust, worry, anxiety, grieve Him.
- He is the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:29), so that which is hard, bitter, ungracious, unthankful, malicious, unforgiving, grieves Him.
- He is the Spirit of wisdom (Eph. 1:17), so ignorance, conceit, arrogance, and folly grieve Him.
- He is the Spirit of power, love and discipline (2 Tim. 1:7), so our weakness, fruitlessness, disorderliness, and lack of control grieve Him.
- He is the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2), so anything that savors of indifference, lukewarmness, dullness or deadness grieves Him.
- He is the Spirit of glory (1 Pet. 4:14), so that which is wordly, earthly, or fleshly grieves Him.
I thought that was a very good way of explaining it and looking at the things in our lives which grieve the Holy Spirit. He cannot fill us and control us if we are grieving Him by allowing these characteristics in our lives.
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