Grieving The Holy Spirit (Part 1)

George Stiekes

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you (I Corinthians 3:16).

The believer is indwelt by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of God.” In Galatians 4:6 He is called the Spirit of His (God’s) Son.” You would think that since the Spirit of God dwells in the believer of God, that we would have a good sense as to Who He is and what His role is in our lives. He is part of the Holy Trinity and as such possesses all of the characteristics of God the Father and God the Son. The Psalmist asked, Where can I go from your Spirit (Psalm 139:7). There is no place we can go to get away from Him for He dwells within our lives.

In Ephesians 4:30, God’s word exhorts us -And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. In Ephesians 5:18, God’s word exhorts us to be filled or controlled with the Spirit. If we are not controlled by the Spirit of God, we grieve Him. Galatians 5:22-23 reveals the fruit of the Spirit of God – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. If these are not characteristic of our lives, we grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

This is not something we often stop to think about. There is so much we can learn about the Holy Spirit of God and understand what it is that grieves Him just by His titles in the Word of God.

Romans 1:4The Spirit of HOLINESS. This is a reference to His nature. Being holy, it is crucial for us to understand that any impurity, filthiness or sin grieves Him. It is God’s desire that we be a holy people (I Peter 1:16). The Spirit of God is given to us to assist us in that endeavor. When we are unholy, we grieve the Spirit of God.

Isaiah 11:2The Spirit of the LORD, the Spirit of wisdom, understanding and knowledge. If we are not growing in the Lord and remain ignorant of the spiritual truths in His Word or lack the desire to read, study and meditate on the Word, we grieve the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:2The Spirit of Life. The Spirit of God gives life – spiritual life and to those who have this life, He enables to live free from sin and the fear of death. He applies the provisions that the Lord Jesus Christ has obtained for us, renewing us day by day as we practice the presence of Christ in our lives.

II Timothy 1:7The Spirit of Power. So many Christians remain spiritually weak and accomplish so little in prayer and service. Since we have the provision of that enablement, to be powerless is to grieve the Holy Spirit.

II Timothy 1:7The Spirit of Love. Any failure to love God or love one another as we ought grieves the Holy Spirit.

John 14:17The Spirit of Truth. He cannot lie and cannot lead us astray. Any falsehood, apostasy, heresy, false appearance or lying grieves the Holy Spirit. As the Spirit of truth and as the author of the Word of God, we can constantly trust Him to lead us in such a way that we will both please and glorify God the Father in our lives daily. To fail in this endeavor is to grieve the Holy Spirit Who has provided for us this enablement. When we choose not to follow His leading, we grieve Him.

II Corinthians 4:13The Spirit of Faith. When our faith wavers and we choose to live with doubts, discouragements and anxieties, we grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit of God is incredible. There are more titles that we will look at in Part Two, but each of them will assist us in accomplishing the purposes for which God created us and saved us. They are so crucial to our having the joy of the Lord and the peace of God as our daily experience. They are also crucial to the kind of testimony we will have for God’s glory and the kind of home life we will experience. It reminds us that God is concerned about every aspect of our lives.

Thank God today for the presence of the Spirit of God in your life. If there are areas where you are grieving Him, confess them as sin and repent of them and let the Lord know you want to be controlled by His Spirit.


George Stiekes held successful pastorates in churches in Michigan and Washington among other places. He currently resides in North Carolina and blogs at Reverent Reflections. We recommend his ministry and republish his material by permission.