WATCHWORD:
29 Don’t use bad language. Say only what is good and helpful to those you are talking to, and what will give them a blessing. 30 Don’t cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete. 31 Stop being mean, bad-tempered, and angry. Quarreling, harsh words, and dislike of others should have no place in your lives. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you because you belong to Christ. Ephesians 4:29-32
Meditation:
The Sadness of God
What would cause God to grieve? Can you imagine the Creator God of the universe and everything in it to grieve? Causing Him sorrow? In this scripture passage, above, we are told not to cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. How do we do that?
It is our actions, our decisions that cause a two-fold problem. First, whatever we may say or do that is contrary to the will and intent of God prevents the Holy Spirit from being what He could be in us. Second, and related, is that our actions prevent the Holy Spirit from doing what He could through us. The second point is known as quenching the Spirit, breaking the tender reed, or otherwise, dosing out the fire of doing God’s will. In other words, our actions can inflict sadness on God, a disappointment, even the frustration which He felt when His chosen people chose a way of sin, and rebelled against His commands.
I think this is sometimes confusing because we think of grief as a human emotion. And we wonder how can a divine God feel what humans do? Of course, we know that man was created in the image of God. Actually, we got our ability to have emotions from Him. We can experience emotions because he is an emotional Being.
Well, I think it’s clear that God grieves because of our sin. If you read the history of Israel and their rebellion against God’s decrees both in the wilderness and in the promised land no wonder he was grieving out of frustration, if nothing else. It’s when we rebel against him, or reject what he is wanting us to say and do, that causes the Almighty to be sad. It’s that tricky thing called denying him that we say we don’t do that, but…
How do we stop grieving God by our own actions? When we repent and follow His Commands. Spending time in His Word would be a good start. We might want to recognize in our prayers for family and friends that we are praying graces upon them, all of which is honoring our Almighty Lord. But when we slip, when we pass by on the other side, when we don’t do like-wise, when we don’t follow the leading of the Holy Spirit — Those are just some of the ways we deny Him and cause grief.
Dear friends, I truly pray that we never grieve God anymore than we already have and I hope that we will always strive to please him and help others do the same. May God bless us in our efforts. Amen
Grief, What Is It?
Grief is a strong, sometimes overwhelming emotion for people, regardless of whether their sadness stems from the loss of a loved one or from a terminal diagnosis they or someone they love have received. In grief, you might find yourselves feeling numb and removed from daily life, unable to carry on with regular duties while saddled with the sense of loss. Grief is the natural reaction to loss. Grief is both a universal and a personal experience.
I can only imagine that our grieving the Holy Spirit is different, in that things that we do or say which are contrary to the perfect instructions which we have been given by God, results in disappointment. Our faith is based on nothing less then the fact that God loves us, regardless.
Forgive Me, Lord:
Lord, I ask You to forgive me for allowing attitudes and actions in my life that are dishonoring to You. I want to please You more than ever before, so I ask You to help me recognize those negative things in my life that cause You pain. Help me to permanently walk free of them. From the depths of my heart, I thank You for all You have done inside me. Starting right now, I want to live every moment of my life with the intent to please You and to never cause You grief again. I pray this in Jesus’ name! Amen.
