“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God…“–Eph. 4:30
We often think and talk about our grief, because we are so very sensitive to what affects us, but do you ever think about God’s grief? If we’re honest, most of us would have to admit that we are focused on self more than God– the opposite of the way it ought to be. I suspect a few folks have never even given any thought to the fact that God can be grieved. They have thought about His goodness, greatness, and grace, but not His grief.
The Greek word translated “grieve” speaks of pain. It means to cause one to experience severe mental or emotional distress or pain, which may be accompanied by sadness, sorrow or grief. Grief is associated with love and hate. Because God loves us and hates sin, He is grieved when we refuse His commandments and reject His warnings. In other words, it hurts God when He sees us hurt ourselves.And if we truly love God, grieving Him is the last thing we want to do.
I suppose all of us are saddened by the thought of our dear Savior suffering on the cross. We’ve even wept when hearing songs or sermons that speak of it. Why then do we not consider His suffering at our hands when we sin? Are we not as guilty as those who drove the nails in His hands and feet? Sin is awful in every sense, but it is more awful in its affect on God than it is on us. It is one thing to hurt yourself and quiet another to hurt the One who is “altogether lovely“. How dare we not not consider the effect of our sin upon the One who is “of purer eyes than to behold evil“(Hab. 1:13).
When you do as you please without regard for what God wants you are saying, “I don’t care who I hurt”. Some have even come right out and said it–“I don’t care who it hurts I’m going to do what I want!”. How sad to think that they think so little of God. Yet it happens everyday. When you disobey God’s commands,despise God’s instructions, and disregard warnings, and disrespect God’s promises, you not only hurt yourself, you hurt the One who loves you most.
