If you have been brought up in church, you may be familiar with the statement “do not grieve the Holy Spirit”. Whereas we strive for fellowship and intimacy with the Holy Spirit, we should also be aware of what saddens Him. The Holy Spirit has a personality. In previous blogs I shared my experience in walking in the Spirit, today I would like to share what grieves the Spirit according to the Bible; from personal experiences and observations and from, convictions of the Holy Spirit. This is not the complete list; there could be more. We grieve the Holy Spirit when:
- When we cut Him short in worship, during prayer or during ministration
- When we abruptly change His flow through the songs we sing in worship-true worshippers and ministers can attest that the Holy Spirit will rest strongly on particular songs. When our agenda is to sing all the songs listed, or when the worship leader is tempted to put a show of skills, we quench the Holy Spirit
3) When the church’s agenda or programs supersede the Agenda of the Holy Spirit
4) When we insist on praying our own prayers whilst suppressing what the Holy Spirit wants us to pray for- This happens a lot during intercession. We can easily pray in the flesh – such prayers are amiss. We grieve Him when we leave Him out of prayer
5) When the sanctuary of God, the meeting place, home or church is not honored or respected. The house that you live in and your body are also temples of God. The Holy Spirit is grieved when they are not honored
6) The way we dress or present ourselves can grieve the Holy Spirit-This has nothing to do with wearing pants (trousers) or sleeveless clothes to church. whatever we do in action, dressing or presentation should not draw attention to us but should instead bring glory to God. Generally, worship and ministry should draw people to God and not to an individual. The Holy Spirit does not give glory to Himself but Jesus (John 15:26)
7) When Spiritual gifts are used to manipulate or control others and or used to draw attention to skills and gifts of the presenter (same as the #6)
8) When we ignore the instructions of the Holy Spirit when we take Him for granted. Ignoring the Holy Spirit is outright disastrous. Basically, you are on your own at that time; the absence of the Holy Spirit results in fleshly activities. Often that is when people start mimicking the Holy Spirit, fabricating or manufacturing outcomes.
9) When we talk carelessly and construe Scriptures to meet our needs or when gifts and talents are selfishly -solely used for personal gain .
10) When we do not use our time wisely; when we procrastinate or delay in implementing what the Holy Spirit has instructed us to do
11) Unforgiveness, bitterness, jealousy, covetousness, malice, gossip, anger or rage that leads to sin, speaking evil or others, slander, unconfessed sin, among others also grieve the Holy Spirit
My encouragement to you this week is ; respond quickly at the conviction of the Holy Spirit even if when it seems illogical. The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity. We should relate to Him and reverence Him they way we treat Jesus and God our Father. Purpose to honor the Holy Spirit completely in life.