When does a thief stop being a thief? When he stops stealing? No, when he starts working and giving.
It says: “Don't let any corrupt words proceed out of your mouth; but what is good for edification, that it impart grace to the hearers” - this is all once sentence.
He's talking about your language. That's the way we talk about one another; and to one another.
It says: don't let any corrupt talk come out of your mouth; but rather talk that will build up, and release grace.
Now grace will flow to you. Grace is God's power flowing. It's an enablement; so here's a question for you:
How much, after you're interacted with people, have they become empowered and graced and lifted up?
Then it says: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption”.
So it's very clear that we can grieve; that word grieve means: to cause distress; to cause sorrow; to hurt the Holy Spirit's feelings. Some of you may not have thought of the Holy Spirit as a person, but the Holy Spirit is incredibly sensitive.
One of the things about being sensitive is: it works two ways; so the Holy Spirit is very sensitive to you. He's sensitive to your needs; to everything that's happening in your life. He is sensitive to your feelings - but the other side of the coin is: He's also sensitive to how you treat Him.
Now a lot of people don't even consider the Holy Spirit, and His work in their life, very much. It's Father, Son, and Spirit of God - the Holy Spirit. He has been given to you, to be a friend and a comforter to you. When you're in distress, He is willing to comfort you, but you've got to turn to Him.
It says: “don't grieve the Holy Spirit”; and the first evidence that grieving of the Holy Spirit has taken place, is: how we talk to, and about, one another.
That's the first evidence. You only have to listen to your mouth - you can tell when you're grieving the Holy Spirit - it doesn't take long.
Some of you may have been in a conversation with someone, and while they were talking, you actually felt quite grieved in your heart, as they spoke. That's the Holy Spirit, bearing witness to your spirit: this is not right. You shouldn’t be here listening to this stuff - we should stop this stuff being spoken about.
Don't grieve the Holy Spirit. He says: let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
He said: there's some things you've got to make sure you deal with, because if you don't deal with them, you'll consistently grieve the Holy Spirit; and then find you lose vision, you can't see where you should be going, and you become into bondage to certain things. The life that you're living is a grind rather than a joy.
For many people, the first evidence that something's not right is: your life has become a grind. If your life is a grind, then there's something missing in your connection with the Holy Spirit. There's something going on in your heart needs to be addressed.
The second way that you would recognise something's not right is: the loss of peace. You may not be aware that the Holy Spirit's drawing back, and being grieved; but the loss of peace (meaning: you're agitated, internally distressed, or not at rest), is the indicator - the Holy Spirit is drawing back, and warning you something's not right.
The most common indication anyone has, that the Holy Spirit is struggling with your life and your behaviours, and that He is wanting to get your attention is: you feel the loss of peace. Loss of peace is #1.