If you've been around church services for any length of time, you may have heard people say that something "grieved the Holy Ghost." The idea being that something that occurred in the church service was disturbing to the presence of God's Spirit, and even maybe caused His Presence to leave in that moment. This comes from Ephesians 4:30 which says to "grieve not the Holy Spirit of God." Many have felt that a baby crying in the service, or people moving around will grieve God's Spirit. While those things certainly can cause disturbance, I'm not so sure that they are what really grieves the Holy Ghost.

Right before verse 30 says to not grieve the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:29 says to "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers." I believe that what really grieves the Holy Ghost is spoken words that don't minister grace! Words of anger, bitterness and criticism. These are the things that cause God's Spirit to be grieved. Let's be diligent to speak words that will encourage and edify each other on a consistent basis. Have a great week!

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