Ephesians 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
As we make decisions about doing what is right or wrong, we have a helper, called the Holy Spirit! When we become believers, we get a new resident in our lives as the Holy Spirit indwells us. Jesus told His disciples as He was preparing to leave that He would send them the Helper. In the Book of John, we have several verses that talk about the Helper or the Holy Spirit and what His role would be.
John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
John 14:26 But the Helper, (the Holy Spirit), whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
John 15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about me.
John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come.
With the Holy Spirit, the helper, living within us we have one who speaks truth to us and guides us to practice the truth, to do what is right.
The Apostle Paul teaches that the Holy Spirit will give us the power to resist any temptation. He writes in Galatians 5:16 for us to “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
As we come to Ephesians 4:30, we learn that we can grieve the Holy Spirit, the helper. To “grieve” is to make sad or sorrowful, to bring about a heaviness. Having read what the Holy Spirit, the helper, does for us, I would think we can understand how He is grieved when we sin. In His role, He has helped us to know the truth of what is right and what is wrong. In His role, He helps us to resist the temptations to do wrong. When we do what is wrong the Helper has to feel rejection as we reject the truth, and we reject the help He offers.
Ephesians 4:30 is a verse that serves as a filter for decision-making. I want the actions I take, even the attitudes I display, to be pleasing to God. I don’t want to disappoint Him, and I surely don’t want to grieve the Holy Spirit.
Now it is worth noting the promise that comes in this verse. While we can, and do at times grieve and even quench the work of the Holy Spirit, we stay sealed by Him for the day of redemption.
As you make decisions how much weight does the Holy Spirit and His “feelings” have before displaying an attitude or taking an action?
Bring pleasure, not pain to the Helper!
Continue strong relying on the Helper,
And remember to DATE The Word
Bonus: In the 4th month of the year, April, we are extending a 4 x 4 challenge and encouraging you to read a chapter 4 each day of April. For April 30 we challenge you to read Malachi 4.