Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. - Ephesians 4v30-32

“Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit” is a verse we often use in theology class to show that the Holy Spirit is a person, that He has personality. Even though I have preached through Ephesians I don’t think I have ever delved into the specific context of the passage.

The whole context, both before and after of, “Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit,” is dealing with relationships among believers. Specifically, the context is the words we use toward each other and the motivation behind those words. In the previous verse we read, “let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth.” In the next verse we see “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.”

Why did God put. “Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit” where He did? I really don’t think it was by accident or out or coincidence. Could it be that a major way to grieve the Holy Spirit is by mistreating each other? Could we grieve Him with every cruel word we say? Could we really grieve Him when with things like bitterness, wrath, anger, and speaking evil? Could the Holy Spirit really be bothered by things like that when there is so much “worse” going on? Doesn’t He have more important things to be concerned with?

“Be kind to each other and tenderhearted.” What a wonderful summary to the passage this is. But that is not the end. Look what follows – “Forgiving one another.” These things are going to come up. We are going to blow it. Our loose tongues are going to spout things we shouldn’t. Sometimes we are going to be the recipient of those words. When that happens the word of God still has the answer – “Forgiving one another.”

Mt sin always grieves the Holy Spirit. From the context it is clear that is surely true when I mistreat my brother with my words and my attitude.