Grieving the Holy Spirit

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30

The indwelling Holy Spirit, who is God, can be grieved in us, which is to be sad, distressed and sorrowful. Quite a sobering fact that we have the ability to cause God grief, as well as joy.

Grieving the Holy Spirit simply means to go against His truth, His witness, His prompting, His leading, instruction and guidance. It is the conscious rejection of His counsel, which is the Word of God.

Freedom in the Christian life is not freedom to do anything we can imagine. It is freedom to obey the Holy Spirit and be led by Him.

If we have grieved the Holy Spirit then we will also be grieved inside, for He is joined to us in our spirit, our inner-man, and it is He, the Spirit of Christ, Christ in us, who is our LIFE. If we grieve our LIFE then we are not living in His LIFE.

The person who can grieve the Holy Spirit and yet not be grieved within themselves surely does not have the Holy Spirit indwelling.

Just as our natural sensitivity to pain is a warning signal and alarm for our safety, ensuring that we care for our bodies and know when they are being injured or in danger, so is sensitivity to the Holy Spirit of God such an incalculable blessing, for thereby we know whether we are grieving Him or pleasing Him.

To go on grieving the Holy Spirit, and not care that we are grieving Him, is very dangerous.

We can safely assume that if He is not grieved with us then He is pleased with us. Why? For we trust Him to regulate our life – we defer to the rule of Christ over our lives, trusting Him to order and regulate our lives and work everything in us according to His good and perfect will.