Don’t Grieve the Holy Spirit

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Scripture: Ephesians 4:30-32 (NIV)

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you,

Devotion:

            If you believe on Jesus Christ, you are saved and you have the Holy Spirit residing within you. You, however, can suppress the Holy Spirit’s action in your life if you are not living in a Godly way. I know that is a tall order for us. We are a fallen race. Our sin nature makes it impossible for us to live up to the standard set by Christ. There is good news though.

            Jesus has told us that there is forgiveness in him. We can know that whatever we have done such as the items listed above in the scripture and many more besides that we can receive forgiveness and we can restore the Holy Spirit’s action in our lives. With the Holy Spirit’s action in our lives, we can stand up to temptation and defeat it. Without the Spirit’s activity in our lives is more difficult if not impossible to defeat temptation.

            We also can fall into the grip of sin if we do not forgive those who wrong us. Jesus taught us two parables about forgiveness in the Gospels. The one who forgives more will love more, and not forgiving those who owe you will result in punishment. So do not grieve the Holy Spirit and love your neighbor.

Prayer:

            Lord God Almighty, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Help us not to grieve him. Teach us to love others as we love ourselves. Rescue us from this life of sin. Do not let any root of bitterness spring up in our lives. Lord lead us in the way you would have us to go. Amen. 

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