Our passage this morning comes with a stern warning from Paul not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. This is important because the intimacy of our relationship with God hinges on this question. Our relationship with God is often presented as that of a husband and a wife. How do you grow in intimacy with your spouse? By learning them and spending time with them.
Being kind, being tenderhearted, and forgiving one another are characteristics we need to have if we don’t want to grieve the Holy Spirit. It seems overly simplified, but that is being an imitator of Christ. These simple actions are what it looks like to live in holiness because these actions are imitating the life of Christ who lived and walked in holiness.