If you have been reading my musings for a while, you know that I am a sports enthusiast. That world often highlights Biblical principles for me to consider. And last week, there was another one.

Golf is back…and the big tournament, the PGA was recently played. The competition was fierce. At one  point, I think there were six players tied for first. Well, one of them, Brooks Koepka is a fiery competitor. And true to his nature, he made some comments about his adversaries that rubbed some of them the wrong way. Many felt that he had insulted his competitors.

Now, golf is a “gentleman’s game” and the general rule is to be kind and soft spoken, not insulting.

When I heard his remarks (and his later explanation), a few verses popped up in my mind. I had been studying about quenching the Spirit of God (I Thess. 5:19). A parallel verse is found in Eph. 4:30, where it tells us not to grieve the Spirit. And then I saw Heb. 10:29 that references insulting the Spirit of grace. 

Insulting God? Insulting your fellow competitors is one thing, insulting almighty God is another thing all together.  So, how do we do that?

Well, as I thought it through, I think you and I might be guilty of insulting the Spirit when we choose to rely on any other source of strength (or foundation for peace) other than our Savior. When we look around and settle for worldly substitutes for joy and direction, I think we may insult the Spirit.

Perhaps when we choose to think about the Holy Spirit more as a power source than a person who seeks a relationship with us, we insult and grieve the third person of the Trinity.

And I think we may insult Him when we try to keep Him in a box. In other words, when we maneuver our relationship, over structure our worship services and construct our personal devotional time in such a way as to “control” or systematize His work, I think He may be grieved.

So, this week, perhaps we all ought to sharpen our focus on the Holy Spirit and do some real study in the scriptures about His work and relationship with us. I know that insulting others is a cheap way of emphasizing our own importance. But insulting the Spirit has much higher implications.

Instead, let’s call to mind Gal. 4: 6 where the Lord reminds us, “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit who calls out ‘Abba,’ Father. So, you are no longer a slave, but a son…” Bottom line, sons (and daughters) don’t insult those in authority over them.