The Holy Spirit is sent by God to teach us His secret things, and to guide and direct our activities.
Anything that makes the functioning of the Holy Spirit in our lives to be dormant is not beneficial to our growth as children of God and Grieving the Holy Spirit is one of those things, which is a sin against the Holy Spirit.
We should strive to do all to maintain the workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives by avoiding sins against Him.
WHAT DOES IT MEANS TO GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BIBLE?
Biblically, to grieve the Holy Spirit means to make Him sad by holding bitterness, unforgiveness in our hearts, cultivating the attitude of wrath and anger when the slightest opportunity comes and speaking evil against anyone Ephesians 4:31.
The holy spirit as described by the scripture is a person and will obviously have emotions like humans in which becoming sad is one of them.
People become sad when others go against their instructions, expectations or commands them. The Holy Spirit will also be sorrowful when you do what he does not approved of.
The book of Ephesian 4:1-32 gives a rundown of what is means by to grieve the Holy Spirit. Anything that brings about sadness, sorrow, unhappiness, glooming to the Holy Spirit is an act of grieving the Holy Spirit.
It is the same as like someone send to help you to become a president fit to enter the presidency and it is said that in order for him to effectively assist you become a president, you are supposed to stay away from things that can stop you from becoming a president. He really wants to accomplish his job by making such you become a president. Instead of you staying away from those things, you go ahead to do those things that prevent your president ship, you make him sad and sorrowful, thus, grieving him. This is exactly how we grieve the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, our sins against others, particularly our various Christian brothers and sisters will always grieve the Holy Spirit because he assures our salvation, redemption and eternal life. He wants to see us saved from the wickedness in this world and from eternal deamination.
When he is doing his workings and we don’t respect some rules and instructions from God, it makes him disappointed, distraught and sad because it will prevent him from achieving his purpose in our lives.
IS GRIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT THE ONLY SIN AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT?
No, grieving the Holy Spirit is one of the sins against the Holy Spirit. There other sins against the holy spirit, such as insulting the Holy Spirit.
Grieving the Holy Spirit is considered a sin against the Holy Spirit as it makes him sorrowful, sad, disappointed, upset, disenchanted, distressed, dismayed, distraught, unhappy, and troubled.
This not a good thing to do to a human being because he or she will not want to remain beside you until it has been wipe away. What more if it is done to the Holy Spirit? We therefore need to know and avoid the sins against the Holy Spirit.
WHAT ARE THE SINS AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT?
Sins against the Holy Spirit are anything that makes the Holy Spirit to become unhappy, sad, disappointed and sorrowful towards us.
There are many sins that you can commit against the Holy Spirit and they are:
To Grieve The Holy Spirit:
To grieve the Holy Spirit is to make Him disenchanted or distraught by allowing unforgiveness to overshadow our hearts and speaking evil or bearing false weakness against anyone. This is clear in Ephesians 4:30-31.
To resist the Holy Spirit:
There are many who know and accept the truth in God’s word but refuse to act as God’s word has instructed us children of God to act. Such an action shows a resistance to the Holy Spirit.
In Act 7:51, Jesus Disciple Stephen told the people that “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you”.
He said this because they knew the truth but acted otherwise just like their forefathers, thus resisting the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, once a child of God knows the truth but willingly wants to act contrary, he or she is resisting the Holy Spirit.
To quench the Holy Spirit:
Quenching simply means turning off the fire and it comes about through the attitude of unbelief and refusal to take actions as instructed by the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 tells us the following, ‘Do not quench the spirit’
To insult the Holy Spirit:
To insult the Holy Spirit is consider the saving grace won by Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary as being useless and not of essence to you.
The death of Jesus brought salvation and this one of the role of the Holy Spirit to make sure it saves all.
Hebrews 10:29 explain that “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”.
This means that the Holy Spirit sees to it that we all get grace to be saved. Thus, the attitude of not seeing it as being able to save you is an insult to the work of the Holy Spirit.
To blaspheme the Holy Spirit:
To blaspheme the Holy Spirit means to speak against the Holy Spirit as being a fake spirit not coming from God.
It is said to be the worst sin that a person can commit against the Holy Spirit because it will not be forgiven in this age and the age to come.
This is evident in Mathew 12:31-32 which says “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come”.
We are therefore call to be conscious about this and try as much as possible to avoid blaspheming against the Holy Spirit.
WHAT GRIEVES THE HOLY SPIRIT?
According to Ephesians 4:25-31, the Holy Spirit is grieved through certain attitudes:
Lies telling
Any act of lying to another person makes the Holy Spirit disappointed. It is said that “Satan is the father of all lies. If we tell lies, we look like Satan because it is one of his characteristics John 8:44.
Act of stealing:
Taking of anything that does not belong to you, without the permission of the person and in the absent of the person is consider stealing. We must not steal from one another. This is one of the ten commandment given by God to Abraham. Any stealing is against the spirit of God and make Him unhappy.
Keeping bitterness and wrath in your heart:
Any bitterness harbour in the heart, grieve the Holy Spirit and prevent his functioning. Any pain you have against someone because of a wrong they did to you and a refusal to let go of it, grieves the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, it is imperative to search your heart daily and remove any bitterness against anybody, so as to avoid grieving the Holy Spirit.
Uncontrolled and Prolong Anger:
Any act of anger in your life grieves the Holy Spirit. Many of us have prolong anger. The more you prolong anger, the more you sadden the Holy Spirit.
It is but normal that in this world, people will push you to be angry in one way or another but don’t let it get a hold on you. Try to avoid it and ignore the incident.
Clamour:
Clamour simply means any commotion, shouting, uproar, noise that calls for public attention. There is a tendency for people to shouting and make a scent when others commit an offense against them. The Holy Spirit is not a party to such actions and it grieves Him.
Evil speaking:
It must be noted that any evil you speak against another will grieve the Holy Spirit. Speaking and planning evil for someone is not allow by the Holy Spirit.
There are many children of God who organise sittings in order to talk against others and often it is negative talks. We must avoid such attitude.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
The Holy Spirit play vital role in the life of Christians such as:
To lead us to salvation (john 3:6)
He gives us power to overcome (acts 1:8)
He restores, renews and refreshes us (psalms 103:5)
Seal us for inheritance until redemption (Ephesians 4:30)
The Holy Spirit drives out demons (mtt 12:28)
The Holy Spirit reveals the secret about God (1 cor 2:10-16)
Empowering: to perform task for the lord (rm15:19)
HOW CAN I AVOID GRIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT?
Many children of God wonder how they can avoid grieving the Holy Spirit in this world full of offenses and troubles. The environment seems to portray vexatious incidence which can lead to grieving the Holy Spirit.
To learn and understand how to void grieving the Holy Spirit, go through the following points: (TO BE USE AS DESCRIPTIVE SENTENCES FOR ARTICLE)
Be kind and tender-hearted to one another:
In your associating with others, be nice in the way you greet them, talk to them or behaviour to them. Avoid treating others poorly by not valuing them as much as you, for it make the Holy Spirit distraught. You must be good to one another, giving them a helping hand in their activities.
Forgive one another:
Have a compassionate heart, excusing the wrong done to you by others. In life, understand that we all make mistakes which might wrong others. No matter what, even if they did it intentionally, forgive them so that your heavenly Father can also forgive you, Mathew 6:9-13. You should note that we forgive for our eternal life. In order to understand why you must forgive others, visit the article The Benefits Of Forgiveness.
Always tell the truth:
As always as possible, tell the truth to others. If you don’t want to say the truth, then keep it a secret and be quiet.
Christians have pointed out that at times, they don’t want about their plans but are provoked by friends and since they are keeping it secret, they will be force to tell a lie instead of the truth about their plans.
This act of lying make us children of the devil because lies telling is one of his characteristics, John 8:44 and in turn, sadden the Holy Spirit.
Be charitable or generous:
Learn to share with others when you have and they don’t have. God will always bless us to bless others. Being stingy will upset the Holy Spirit.
Avoid anger:
As much as possible, learn to reduce your temperament when faced with an offence. Getting angry and shouting, fighting as a result of a wrong done to you, will only make the holy spirit disenchanted.
Run away from gossip:
Any speaking against someone negatively in their absence is considered as gossiping. We must learn to talk directly to people about what they did that was wrong then explaining it to others in their absence because it upsets the Holy Spirit.
Practice meekness:
Humility will open doors for you in many areas of your life. Learn to be humble in everything you do and reap its benefits. Being proud and boastful will only grieve the Holy Spirit.
Avoid abusive words:
Always make use of positive wordings in your discussions. Using immoral and dirty wordings and language will make the Holy Spirit sorrowful.
Be patient:
Always wait for things to happen gradually in life following a process. Never you be in a haste in anything you do because there are processes to be follow in order to occupy any position in an office. Being agitated will only sadden the Holy Spirit.
Repent and pray for grace not to sin:
Once we fall into sin, it is important to immediately confess our sins and seek for the grace not to sin again through prayers. With our personal power we can’t say we will never commit a sin. It is by the grace of God that works in us. Praying for the grace of God is very important. To learn more on prayers, study the article How Should I Pray Effectively.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENTCE BETWEEN BLASPHEMY AND GRIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT?
Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the act of speaking against the Holy Spirit, saying that what happened was not brought by the spirit of God but that of the devil.
It is viewing the Holy Spirit works as being fake and openly speaking against the works to the hearing of others.
Condemning the miracles performed by genuine men of God as being the power of an evil spirit.
Once it is the Holy Spirit behind miracles, happenings and you speak against, you are blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
It must be noted that this sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this age or the world to come Mathew 12:31-32.
On the other hand, grieving the Holy Spirit is making Him sorrowful or sad by cultivating certain behaviour that are not pleasing to the spirit of God.
The behaviour that makes the Holy Spirit sad or that grieves the Holy Spirit are keeping malice, bitterness, anger in our lives and speaking evil against others Ephesians 4:30-31.
Grieving the Holy Spirit is speaking evil against other, whereas, blaspheming is speaking evil against the Holy Spirit.
IS GRIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT FORGIVABLE?
Constance, a friend and sister in Christ once asked me if grieving the Holy Spirit is a sin which is forgivable. What will you tell her? Or what did I tell her?
Truly, grieving the Holy Spirit is sin but it is not one of the sin against the holy spirit that the Bible says it will not be forgiven.
The Bible in Ephesians 4:30 does not say ‘grieve not the Holy Spirit and you will not be forgiven. The only verse in the Bible that talks of sin against the holy not to be forgiven is in Mathew 12:31-32.
Many people confuse between blaspheming the Holy Spirit and grieving the Holy Spirit. It is the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit which will not be forgiven.
Thus, grieving the Holy Spirit is forgivable provided you are sincerely sorrow for your sin and seek genuine repentance.
CONSEQUENCES OF GRIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT
This is a major question asked by many christians and this section will give an answer to it.
What happen when we grieve the holy spirit?
When we grieve the Holy Spirit, He will not be taken away from us because He is given to abide with us forever but we are in danger of the following:
The friendship with the Holy Spirit is destroy:
Once you grieve the Holy Spirit, the friendly nature he had with you will be lost. He will not leave you but will stop talking to you as friends do. You will loss knowing all the beautiful things he use to show you and reveal to you.
Loss your power and authority as a child of God:
The functioning of the Holy Spirit in us gives us power and authority in prayers to pull down any stronghold. But when the Holy Spirit becomes inactive in us because he is disappointed, we loss such power.
The glory in your talents will cease:
The light in which you perform your activities and was seen as useful to others will just quench because he will remain in hidden in you. He will not shine that light because he is sad.
You become ineffective in evangelising to others:
When you minister to others for conversion, they don’t feel the edge to get salvation because conviction is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Our preaching and teaching turn to lack supernatural power:
The Holy Spirit gives us revelation and inspire our teachings and preachings to impact the lives of others. If we make him distraught, he will no long gives us inspiration, thus, our sermons or teachings become empty.
CAN THE HOLY SPIRIT LEAVE A BELIVER?
It is true that our sins can destroy our relationship with God and grieve the Holy Spirit. This will stop the benefits and peace of His presence in our lives but talking of He leaving us, is a whole lot of an issue.
John 14:16 says “and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever”. It is clear in this passage that once you receive the Holy Spirit, he will abide with you forever. Also, in Ephesians 1:13-14, it is said that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit until we receive our inheritance to redemption
So to answer the question, the Holy Spirit cannot leave a true believer. The moment you hear God’s word, sincerely believe and confess that Jesus Christ is your personal Lord and saviour, you receive the Holy Spirit, who gives you a new nature through new birth and identifies you as a “child of God”, thereby remaining with you forever.
CAN THE HOLY SPIRIT LEAVE A BACKSLIDER?
When a believer backslides and goes back into the world, is he till fill with the Holy Spirit?
Yes, the Holy Spirit can leave a backslider if he has gone back to sin and is not showing any attempt to repent Is 59:2, 1Jn 3:9. Unconfessed prolong sin will push the holy spirit away from sin because he does not like sin. A true believer will not stay away from God’s presence for long.
WHAT MUST I DO, WHEN I REALISED THAT I HAVE GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT?
When you realised that you might have grieved the Holy Spirit, you must genuinely be sorrow and sincerely ask for forgiveness. Go to God for repentance and confess your sins.
You must confess all your sins and sincerely repent and try not to commit them again. God is merciful and always ready to forgive and renew those who sincerely seek for repentance. The Holy Spirit will be at peace with you and immediately resume His works in your life.
Prayers:
Our Heavenly Father forgives us for all we have done that grieved your holy spirit. May his workings in our lives never cease. Thank you father. In Jesus mighty name we pray.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can The Holy Spirit Leave An Unbeliever?
To begin with, an unbeliever does not receive the Holy Spirit. So the question of Holy Spirit leaving an unbeliever is out of place. To get knowledge on how to receive the Holy spirit, visit the message on How To Be Filled With The Holy Spirit
Does the Holy Spirit minster to unbelievers?
The Holy Spirit also has a ministry to the unbelievers. He makes use of you a believer to carry out the following:
The Holy Spirit helps to exposes their sins, rebukes them of the consequences of sins, punishes them for their wicked acts against others, convict and convince them of their wrong and need for salvation. It is also to them about the righteousness of Jesus and the judgement to come to those who do not repent John 16:7-11.
