December 18th

As Newborn Babes

1 Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
1 Peter 2:3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

A Life of Change

The Christian life is about change; change in our nature, change in our behaviors, and change in our desires and aspirations. The Apostle Peter, in this verse, exhorts us to desire the milk of the word of God. But he encourages us to do some other things in addition.

Lay Aside These Things

He says to lay aside all malice, or, that is, all ill-well and every hurtful desire toward others. He goes on to say to put away all guile, which means all deceitfulness, subtilty and evil craftiness.

Moreover, he exhorts us to put off all hypocrisies, or acting in a false way to appear to be something we are not. And put away all envies, or all acts motivated by envy of others. Each one of us is unique. We do not need to envy the uniqueness of others, or the blessings God has blessed others with.

He further says to put away all evil speakings, which is a phrase that simply means backbitings, or bad things we sometimes say about people behind their backs.

Necessary Changes

Why is Peter telling us these to do things, or to make these drastic changes to what is sometimes considered normal human behavior? He tells us to make these changes, because they can hinder us in the pursuit of the knowledge of God, the understanding of His word.

Cultivate Meekness

James makes a similar statement concerning the receiving of the word of God.

James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Lay aside these things and receive the word of God with meekness. Putting aside these things of the flesh and the worldly human nature is part of the development of meekness. Meekness is an attitude of heart that Jesus exhorted us to cultivate. He said that blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

A meek and gentle spirit is very precious in the sight of the LORD. We lay aside the things that Peter and James mentioned in these verses so that we can take on meekness of spirit, a heart attitude that is very pleasing to the LORD.

Receiving the Word

As we cultivate meekness in our own hearts, the word of God begins to be easier to understand, and it will take deeper root in our hearts, as we spend the time to receive it. The word of God is a message of God’s love for us. It is more readily received and understood by a meek and gentle heart.

Start the process of cultivating godly changes in your attitudes and behaviors today. The fruit of the Spirit is developed in our lives as we make the effort to obey the word of God, and to take on the attitudes of heart that are pleasing to the LORD. And, along with that, develop the habit of feeding on and receiving the word of God every day. Change may not happen overnight, but lasting changes will take place over time, as we put the effort into it.