You may be surprised to learn that God can experience grief. Yet, there are a number of Bible texts that reveal this.

Moses wrote that God was grieved over the wickedness that was on the earth before the flood. David declared that God had been grieved with the Children of Israel because of their complaining in the wilderness; after their escape from Egypt. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be a “man of sorrows” and said that He would be acquainted with grief.

What grieves the Holy Spirit?

The context of today’s verse reveals a number of things that grieve Him: “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31).

Notice that all these sins have to do with your attitude toward others. You cannot be bitter toward others without grieving the Holy Spirit. You cannot gossip about others without grieving the Holy Spirit. You cannot carry malice in your heart without grieving the Holy Spirit.

To keep from grieving the Holy Spirit, we must be demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit as shown in Ephesians 4:32: “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Examine your life for attitudes and actions that grieve the Holy Spirit. As they come to mind, confess them to Christ immediately and accept His forgiveness. Enjoy the sweet release that comes from being sure that all is right between you and your Lord.

Grieve not the Spirit.