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Ephesians 4:30
"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
One
of the sins against the Holy Spirit is the sin of grieving Him.
Most
certainly, if you grieve the Holy Spirit it will grieve your spirit.
The
Holy Spirit always has a direct impact on your spirit. This is why a
person who is running from the LORD always has a hard time having a good
attitude. This is why when you can stand and teach and preach the Word
of God, you see people who are not right with God having a hard time
with their spirit. They have grieved the Holy Spirit; thus, they have
grieved their own spirit.
However,
if the things in verse 31 will grieve the Holy Spirit, then the same
things will grieve the spirit of your marriage or home. The things that
affect the Holy Spirit of God will most definitely affect the spirit of
man. I fear too often that we only look at this list and never apply it
to the spirit in our home. We must be very careful that we don't allow
these same things in our home or marriage so that we don't grieve the
spirit of our spouse or family. Let me show you these things that will
grieve your spirit.
First,
bitterness will grieve the spirit in your home. Bitterness is a lack of
sweetness. In other words, when we snip at each other, we are grieving
the spirit of our home. Your home will never have the sweet spirit you
desire when you snip back and forth at each other.
Second,
wrath will grieve the spirit of your home. Wrath is extreme anger. I
like to say that wrath is when we allow yelling in the home. Nothing
will grieve the spirit of your home more than when parents and children
are yelling at each other and when husband and wife yell at each other.
There should be no place for wrath in the home. Wrath will destroy that
sweet spirit in your home.
Third,
clamour will grieve the spirit of your home. To clamour is to argue. I
know you will have disagreements with each other, but you don't have to
argue. You must be careful that you don't become argumentative and
grieve your spouse or home. When you have a disagreement, discuss it,
but don't argue about it.
Fourth,
evil speaking will grieve the spirit of your home. Christian, you must
not allow your home to be filled with conversations about other people.
When you talk about the bad that everyone does, it will grieve the
spirit of your home. You must completely avoid evil speaking in your
home if you want your home to have a good spirit.
Fifth,
malice will grieve the spirit of your home. Malice is the act of
getting revenge. Friend, if your life is filled with the intent to get
revenge on others, your spouse or parents, you will find it will grieve
the spirit of your home. Revenge is up to God. You must put away malice
so that you can have a good spirit.
Let
me ask you, are you grieving the spirit of your home? Do you find any
of these actions or feelings being harbored in your life? If you are
going to keep a good spirit in your marriage or home, then you must be
careful not to allow these things in your life. As a parent, don't allow
them in your home. As a spouse, don't allow them in your marriage. As a
Christian, don't allow them in your life. Keep a good spirit in these
three areas by avoiding these five things.
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