A good friend of mine asked me today: “What is the difference between grieving and quenching Holy Spirit?”

I immediately went to the Scriptures looking for an answer and this is what I came up with.

Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” 

Many people might read this verse and get confused wondering how in the world do you grieve Holy Spirit.

I would suggest that the answer to this question lies in the context in which this verse is placed.

There are a number of sins that are listed in verses 25 to 30.  I would suggest to you that when we practice such sins, either willingly or unknowingly. we entertain the possibility of hurting or grieving the Holy Spirit.

When I lie, steal, get angry, brawl with people, slander people or sin sexually, these are all obstacles that hurt my relationship with Holy Spirit.

When I hold malice and bitterness in my heart toward those that have hurt me instead of forgiving them, then these are matters that separate me from God.

If I do not practice repentance and forgiveness because I am proud, then I am grieving the Holy Spirit.

This can only be rectified by repenting of my sin and/or forgiving the person that hurt me.

And then there is the matter of quenching the Holy Spirit.

In Scripture “to quench” means “to stop.” This is different than grieving.  Grieving is about my internal response to the sins of my life and the hurts perpetrated upon me.  Quenching the Spirit is stopping Holy Spirit from moving in and through our lives.

My friend Kathie Walters shares how while she was still living in England,  one day she found herself challenged by God as she was walking home from a grocery store.

Holy Spirit told her to raise her hands and to sing and praise him publicly as she was walking.

Well, of course, this was a matter of contention for her because she was afraid that she would be mocked or misunderstood by the people that saw her.

The Lord said to her: “Do you wish for a religious spirit to return to you?”  Immediately she began to worship the Lord in the streets.

We must always be aware that Holy Spirit is wishing to move through our lives.  The person that is free in the spirit is always making room for Him to move.  We quench or stop the spirit from moving when we do not allow Him to move.

This can happen at an individual level but also at a corporate level.

It is a sin that is different from some of the other sins but is often masked by religious tradition.

As people we have ideas of how God should and shouldn’t move.  We even have ideas on what He should and shouldn’t say.  He is God and has His own mind and His own ideas. Where our thoughts and ideas clash with His, then I would suggest to you that we must submit to His ways so that something greater might be produced.

Some of my greatest experiences came when I didn’t suppress Holy Spirit from moving through me.  Some of the greatest meetings that I have been in we didn’t even know what God was doing but we let him do it anyway.

Submitting to God is trusting in Him that He is good and that His ways are higher than our ways.  When I submit to God good is always produced.  This is my experience and I submit to Him every time He speaks.

In order to advance into our destiny, we would do well to neither grieve nor quench Holy Spirit, amen?