Christian, the Holy Spirit is constantly active in your life. Whenever you sin, the Holy Spirit will let you know. Whether it is an impure thought or an act of transgression of any degree, the Holy Spirit will alert you. You will feel guilty… bad… and/or upset. If you ignore the Spirit… you run the risk of your spirit becoming calloused and scarred so as to eventually not feeling anything. This is called “Quenching The Spirit” as found in 1 Thess 5:15-19

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit.

What quenches the Spirit? Taking revenge on others. Not doing good for others when you can. Neglecting prayer. Not being thankful. Nursing anger toward others. Not forgiving others. Resentment. Taking revenge. Not turning the other cheek. Not forgiving. Ignoring The Spirit’s leadership!

Whether you realize or not, YOU have caused pain in other people’s lives! And you know what it feels like! Have others hurt you? Forgive them. Have others have caused you pain. Pray for them. Do something good for them and let God handle the rest. When you walk in the Spirit, you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Consider Romans 12:14-15

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

One emotion I hate is REGRET. Wishing you would NOT have done something. Wishing you HAD done something else. Regret causes us to beat ourselves up. It is something only the leadership of God’s Spirit can free us from!

Do you have regret… that is years old? If the answer is yes, that is the Spirit prompting you to address it! Why not make a phone call… write a letter… or go see them? Why not do what you can to make things right? But PLEASE don’t quench the Spirit…