October 5, 2022
1 Peter 2:1-3
Take Time to Pray
Psalm 34:17-18
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
He delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Examine
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave spiritual milk, so that by it you may grown up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
malice - desire to do evil to others
Notice
God
God is good.
God is our Savior.
God wants us to mature in our faith.
God wants us to avoid malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander - things that are detrimental to our faith (May 17, 2023)
Lesson
List of things to get rid of: malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander.
We can only clear out the bad stuff with God's help.
We start our faith journey as infants no matter how old we are.
Do
Question
How am I carrying each of these (malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander)?
Response
malice - I can't imagine wanting to do evil to someone, but I am certain there are times when I have wanted revenge and such. Evil is such a strong word in the human language that being accused of it is hard to take. However, that is what we are without Jesus' saving grace. (May 17, 2023)
deceit - Lies, mistruths, little while lies. And they can fall off of my tongue so easily.
hypocrisy - My critical thinking (and sometimes speaking) of people.
envy - I carry way too much envy for someone who is to be content with what God has given me - and He has given me so much.
slander - Speaking ill of people, especially the people I love the most.
I have added this as a daily prayer of asking God to help me remove these things from my life: "Help me to put aside malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander." And each day I list one item that I have done or thought that fits each category. It is an eye-opening experience each day to remind myself of how very far I have to go, and how very much I have to thank Jesus for each day for saving me from myself. (May 17, 2023)