In our daily walk with the Holy Spirit, we must permit Him to lead us, show us things to come, and teach us. However, three important errors must be avoided. These are:

1. Resisting the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51)

Resisting the Holy Spirit is opposing the Spirit. It describes instances where we pitch ourselves against Him. The children of Israel resisted the Holy Spirit in the wilderness many times.

• Arguing Against His Instructions to You: Any time the Holy Spirit instructs you and yet you find reasons to argue, maybe whether what He is saying is possible is resistance to the Spirit. This is what Zachariah did when God sent his angel to bring him glad tidings (Luke 1:18). God struck back at Zachariah for asking how possible the saying was (Luke 1:20).

• Doubt: The Holy Spirit does not like to be doubted. Any time we doubt Him we make Him a liar and we take a position of knowing better than Him. Our doubts also reveal our low confidence in Him. This makes it difficult for Him to work with us or through us. When Elijah prophesied that tomorrow by this time a measure of wheat shall be sold for a shekel in Samaria somebody doubted (2 Kings 7:1-2). That person was eliminated so he does not partake of this blessing (2 Kings 7:20).

• Pride: God resist the proud but He gives more grace to the humble (James 4:6). God turns against the proud man and works against him till he humbles himself. Any time we walk in pride we give an occasion for the Spirit of God to turn against us.
• Stubbornness and Rebellion: Stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry and rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23). Insisting on your way, when the way of the Spirit is revealed to you is stubbornness. King Saul became stubborn, God rejected him. The children of Israel behaved like they knew more than God when they were in the wilderness. They had their ideas pitched against God’s word. The Spirit of God was grieved and resisted. He turned to be their enemy (Isaiah 63:10)

 

b. Quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

The Spirit of God comes to us like a fire, either to be fanned into full flame and given the freedom to accomplish his will, or to be doused and extinguished by the water of human fear, control, and flawed theology. Quenching the Spirit has to do more with launching an attack on the ministry of the Holy Spirit of God. What are some of the ways we can quench the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our churches?

• All efforts that emanate from the law and not faith quench the Spirit. Anytime we want to achieve something to enable us to gain something from God, we kill the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our churches. Works, instead of faith, and the law, instead of grace, are like a bucket of water to the blazing fire of God's Holy Spirit. May we never depend on our works as a way of bargaining with God to do something for us. (Colossians 1:29)
• When we condemn the manifestation of the Spirit and prohibit such manifestations in our lives and our churches. Spiritual gifts are a way that the Holy Spirit shows His supernatural power and presence (1 Corinthians 12:7). Sometimes, out of ignorance or pride, we prohibit or suppress the manifestation of the Spirit in our churches. Some people strive to avoid speaking in tongues. These things can kill His ministry in that church or in that person’s life.
• When we permit the root of bitterness to take root in our hearts. The definition of bitterness is “an embittered and resentful spirit that refuses to be reconciled.”

Some people just like to be mad. They live for conflict, arguing, and fighting. This, as with all sin, only gets worse if left unchecked and unrepented of.

The sad thing is that bitter people rarely want to keep it to themselves. Instead, they spread it around. The Bible speaks of “a root of bitterness defiling many” (Hebrews 12:15). Where there is bitterness, the Holy Spirit is unable to function or co-exist. He is repelled from our lives.

 

c. Grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30)

To grieve the Spirit is to make Him sorrowful. Sin and the things of the flesh sadden the Holy Spirit of God. The following are some of the things that can grieve the Holy Spirit:

• The Holy Spirit is saddened by foul and abusive language.

The Apostle Paul, by the Spirit, admonished that “we should not let corrupt communication or abusive language come out of our mouth.” The word used here speaks of something that has gone “rotten.” This includes obscene language, profanity, dirty stories, vulgarity, speaking ill of another person, etc.

When did it become “cool” for preachers to speak this way from the pulpit? Some people would say this is being “real” or “authentic”, especially when speaking ill of another.

• Fits of rage and uncontrolled anger make the Holy Spirit sorrowful.

“Rage” speaks of the person who is easily angered and who raises his voice—shouting and screaming. Look, all of us have been hurt in life, but we have a choice as to how we react. We can demand our “pound of flesh.” We can say, “They did this to me; therefore I will have my vengeance!”

On the other hand, we can believe God when He says, “Vengeance is mine. I will repay.”

When we use the Holy Spirit to justify our sins, we offend him. The Spirit is supposed to be the source of conviction in people's hearts. How sad it is, then, when Christians try to justify sinful behaviour by invoking the Holy Spirit. We see it when people—whether genuinely deceived or purposeful charlatans—claim the leading of the Spirit as the reason for their unbiblical divorce, for their financial impropriety, or their new-found sexual liberation. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Holiness at all times. He intends to expose our sin, not to justify it with subjective feelings, spontaneous impressions, and wish fulfilment disguised as enlightened spirituality. If the Holy Spirit is grieved when we turn from righteousness to sin, imagine how much more so when we claim the Spirit's authority for such intentional rebellion.