By THE SPIRIT Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 4:
25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.
26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
27 nor give place to the devil.
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
We are told to grieve not the Holy Spirit. In order to do this we must not give place to the devil by our words and/or actions. Be assured that people will attempt to incite behavior that requires us to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. We can expect to be used and abused because of our willingness to forgive others. When someone steals from a righteous believer they are in danger of judgment from FATHER and thus we must not become bitter toward the thief. We may be called upon to expose the theft but we must not let bitterness enter in. A thief is typically in lack to the point of being desperate. If the person had the revelation of FATHER being his or her Provider then there would be no theft.
It’s not that we can’t be angry, we must not let that anger fester into bitterness, wrath, malice, or evil speaking. We must trust in FATHER to rectify the situation on our behalf in HIS Wisdom, not ours.
Are you working so that you are able to give to him who has need? Greed is such a subtle issue in people’s lives that it requires our frequent attention. Do we see ourselves of being generous on a daily basis or are we simply attempting to meet “minimum requirements” of Kingdom giving? How would you like FATHER to only focus on meeting your minimum requirements in all areas of your life? Let us give with the Divine Intent of Love which is oriented toward abundance, not scarcity. Let your giving be prophetic in that you are planting good seed now in order that you reap good fruit in the future. In this manner we are all seen as “prophetic”.
In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus commissioned the twelve to go out. He spoke:
7 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts,
10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.”
We are to be workers for the Kingdom and as we have received, we are to freely give as well. Jesus set this expectation with the disciples and they were not disappointed in the results. Paul instructed us in our walk so that we don’t grieve the Holy Spirit. It never hurts to take an assessment to determine if we are walking accordingly.