Grieve Not The Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:29-32
“29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying,that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

What is it that grieves the Holy Spirit? Is it sin?  Is it not attending church?  How about not reading your Bible?  The way you hear some preach about it, you’re lead to believe that almost ANYTHING could “Grie-e-eve the Ho-o-o-ly Spirit!”  Sadly, this is another example of a passage that can…..and has…..been taken way out of context.

Context.

Any time you take a “text” out of it’s “context,” what you are left with is a “Con.”  We need to take another look at these verses in the opening scripture and see if we can determine their PROPER CONTEXT.  You’ll notice Paul says “Let no corrupt COMMUNICATION proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, (why?) THAT IT MAY MINISTER GRACE UNTO THE HEARERS.”

The Holy Spirit is concerned here that we, meaning believers, minister “Grace unto the hearers.”  He doesn’t mean that we should only refrain from vulgarity, though that is certainly included.  He meant “ANY WORDS” that do not minister grace to the hearers is corrupt communication.  He then goes on to list those things that do not minister grace: 

#1 All bitterness
#2 Wrath
#3 Anger
#4 Clamour
#5 Evil speaking
Put these things away from you.
ALONG WITH……..
#6 ALL MALICE

This includes deriding yourself by confessing things about yourself that are not what Jesus says about you such as “I’m dirty, I’m no good,” or the ever popular, “I’m so sinful.”

• 

DON’T YOU DARE!

Church, Jesus went through and endured unimaginable torture AND the cross AND all His Father’s judicial punishment, paying an incalculable price to redeem you and I.  DON’T YOU DARE CALL YOURSELF “SINFUL,” YOU WHOM GOD HAS MADE RIGHTEOUS BY THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF HIS BELOVED SON.  In so doing, you are making it seem like Jesus didn’t do a complete work.  AS IF!  🙅🏼‍♀️🙅🏼‍♀️🙅🏼‍♀️  When you do that, the Holy Spirit, Who is the SPIRIT OF TRUTH mind you, is forced to fold His arms.  It grieves Him when you speak lies like that, something He CANNOT bless!

What grieves Jesus?  The same thing that grieves The Holy Spirit: Corrupt or ungracious talk coming out of your mouth, like the ones above, ESPECIALLY when you are unmerciful to others…..PARTICULARLY OTHER BELIEVERS.  That’s what the Pharisees did…..continually.  They didn’t care about people getting healed or blessed or set free.  It was their hardness of heart toward others–their total lack of mercy–that grieved and angered Jesus.

So Church, please let’s……..”Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers”….including you.

And that, Church, is how we “Grieve not the Holy Spirit.”