Do you realize that when we act out of selfishness, we are "grieving the Holy Spirit"... how?? Think about a time when you had a desire for something & it seemed as though nobody agreed with what needed to be done to get it. Now, do you remember any of the words that came out of your mouth?... "You know what? I don't have to put up with this! you don't even know what you're talking about. You sit there on your high horse controlling everything. You need to be more considerate of me & my needs!" ["you're right! the rest of us are just floating around in the sea of wrong as you go by in your ship of right!"-Dane Cook]. --This is what's called tearing down out of bitterness.
The flip side is also true. When we see someone in a funk & we become annoyed by it (which is ohhh so easy), and we begin to dwell on the moment & allow it to mess up our day, we are also "grieving the Holy Spirit". I've heard it said that holding a grudge is like taking poison & waiting for the other person to die, but if we're all allowing ourselves to be offended by each other, then we're all taking the poison.
Where is the kindness, the compassion, the forgiveness? Like I said in a previous post... check your fruit for mold! And yes, I will be the one to say it... if we have to struggle through having to be kind to someone & wrestle with forgiveness, then we're in an ugly, ugly spot. Jesus never said, "sorry Judas, I know that you are going to turn me in to the hands of my enemies, so I'm just not going to invite you to dine with us this last time, because it would just be too painful for me to see you right now". My mother used to always say, "Oh, get over it... it is not always about you." And Christ did not give his life for himself.
So, on that note, I leave you with this:
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:2,3
