“Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.” It is sin, then, that grieves Him...

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.  

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Ephesians 4:29-30

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,

Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!

Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;

Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;

Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.

Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,

Joyful music leads us sunward in the triumph song of life.

H. VAN DYKE

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

The Apostle has been referring to certain sins, such as falsehood, anger, bitterness, corrupt speech, and after warning his readers against them, he adds, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.” It is sin, then, that grieves Him, sin that pains Him; and this is exactly the answer we should have expected, for He is the “Holy Spirit of God,” and all, therefore, that is evil and sinful He hates with a perfect hatred, and is “grieved” by it. The character of a man is always revealed as much by his deepest sorrows as by his highest joys. And the character of God is revealed in all its purity and holiness by the fact that the only thing in human life that grieves Him is sin.

         He is grieved by insincerity and falsehood, for He is the Spirit of truth.—All that is against truth, all that is against justice and honesty, is hateful to Him. He is grieved at all falsehood, in word or in deed. How much is He grieved then at the insincerity of Christians towards one another, when we change our words towards our neighbors to their face and behind their back; when we speak them fair as long as they are before us, but have quite a different story when they are gone and cannot hear our opinion of them; when we make a show of friendship as long as we think they may be useful to us and do us good, but speak roughly as soon as we have nothing more to get from them. Surely there can be few greater griefs to the Spirit of truth and faithfulness than to see those whom He is striving to bring into the ways of truth so hollow in heart, so full of false professions, and unmeaning, untrue words.

         He is grieved by malice and unkindness, for He is the Spirit of love.—How must it grieve Him to see how love is set at nought among Christian people. How must it grieve Him to see how little some people seem to think of cherishing malice and ill-will in their hearts, to see how hard a matter it is to get them to give up a quarrel and really forgive what they suppose is an injury. How must it grieve Him as He accompanies us through the day, watching our dangers, ever anxious to help our weakness, to hear the words of unkindness, of peevishness, of jealousy, which drop from our mouths as the hours wear on, and which we take no care to stop. How must He grieve at the uncharitable suspicions and surmises, at the obstinacy with which we try to put the worst appearance on things and stretch them from the truth to make them seem as bad as possible.

JAMES HASTINGS

The Great Texts of the Bible-Ephesians

~This Devotional is in honor of CeCe Coss

A woman led by the Spirit of God

"The Holy Spirit, then, is emphatically gentle & tender & kind…."

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14:16-17

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Ephesians 4:30

Come, O Creator Spirit blest,

And in our souls take up Thy rest;

Come, with Thy grace and heavenly aid,

To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

Great Comforter, to Thee we cry;

O highest gift of God most High,

O Fount of life, O Fire of love,

And sweet anointing from above!

Rhabanus Maurus ~800AD

St. Paul is charging the Ephesians to be careful not to forget or to despise some of the common duties of everyday life. He is telling them to speak the truth, to beware of foolish talking, to be industrious and honest, kind and charitable, to put away bitterness and evil-speaking, to be slow to take offence, and ready to forgive…. He gives no new commandment, but he tells of a glorious guide. He speaks of a tender love which is watching us anxiously as we go up and down in the business or the pleasures of the day, of a Friend who has marked us out for the “day of redemption,” and is disappointed in us, grieved, distressed when we turn our backs upon Him and treat Him lightly. For such seems to be the meaning of the text—“Do not give pain to One who so loves you. He has come to your rescue, He has sealed you for a blessing; therefore, I beseech you, grieve Him not.”

Scripture does not shrink from speaking of God as being capable of feelings which for us can be represented only under human forms of emotion: God is represented as “being pleased,” as “joying,” as “delighting” in the love and obedience of His people, and He is also represented as “grieved,” “offended,” “angry,” “alienated,” by their sin; and we need not hesitate to follow where the Bible leads us.

The Holy Spirit is always with us, a constant companion, and nothing is hid from Him. In this He witnesses to us the omnipresence of God; He makes God’s existence real to us, wherever we happen to be. Do we speak a word? It falls upon the Spirit’s ear, as well as upon the ear of the person to whom we speak. Do we perform any action, good or bad? The Holy Spirit sees it and records it. Do we even think a thought? That thought is mirrored in the multitudinous mind of the Divine Spirit. We cannot escape from His presence.

…The imagery employed to describe Him and His influence on mankind is of the gentlest possible character. We have, for instance, the dew that descends silently from heaven, the rain that comes down upon the mown grass, the wind that rustles the leaves of the trees, or that sweeps away the clouds from the fair face of the sky; and if, as is once the case, the coming of this supernatural Guest is symbolized by the fire and the tornado, the fire is that which gleams in harmless flame over the thoughtful brows of the first Christian disciples gathered together in the rough upper room; and the tornado is that which overthrows and destroys nothing, but only announces, by an over-powering sound, the presence of God, and bids the people assemble together to listen to His overtures of mercy. The Holy Spirit, then, is emphatically gentle and tender and kind…. And when we know the gentleness of the Spirit in His dealing with us, surely we shall deal gently with others.

JAMES HASTINGS

The Great Texts of the Bible