1 Peter 2:1-2
“Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”
Every Christian should desire to grow as a Christian. The purpose of the Word of God is to help the Christian to become “thoroughly furnished” so that they can continue growing. God addressed five things in the verses above that every Christian needs to lay aside so they can continue to grow. That means if they must lay them aside to grow, having these things in ones life will keep them from growing or will stunt their growth. You will never become the Christian you are supposed to be until you lay these things aside.
Malice is the first thing you must lay aside so you can grow. Malice is an intention or desire to get even. In other words, carrying a grudge against others and looking for a way to get even will keep you from growing as a Christian. That is why forgiveness must be a common tool the Christian uses. You are going to be wronged, but you cannot carry malice in your heart towards anyone if you want to continue to grow as a Christian.
Guile is the second thing you must lay aside so you can grow. Guile is having ulterior motives with everything you do. In other words, it is not being transparent as to why you do something. There is always something hidden that will benefit you. There is no place for this in the Christian life. The Christian should live a transparent life and should never do something for others or ask others to do something with an ulterior motive behind that action. Whatever you do or whatever you ask others to do, be honest with them as to why you are doing or asking them to do it.
Hypocrisy is the third thing you must lay aside so you can grow. This is simply living a double life. This is telling others to do something that you are not going to do yourself. You will never grow when you live a double life. What you are at church is who you are supposed to be at home and abroad. A hypocritical life will keep you from growing.
Envy is the fourth thing you must lay aside so you can grow. Do you look at what others have with envy? Are you jealous of what others have? Do you think you deserve what another person has? This will keep you from growing. You are to be content with whatever God has given you. Contentment will keep you growing and will cause you to be happy when God blesses others.
Evil speakings is the fifth thing you must lay aside so you can grow. Talking bad about others is wrong and will stunt your Christian growth. Simply put, gossip is a growth killer. If you have nothing good to say about another, don’t say anything at all. Don’t become part of conversations that tear other Christians down. If you wouldn’t say something about a person in their presence then evil speaking is saying those words or thoughts in their absence. Only speak words about others that you would say if they were in your presence.
Let me ask you, are there some things in your life that are stunting your Christian growth? God commands us to lay these things aside so we can grow. I encourage you to be careful in your daily walk that you don’t let any of these things stunt your growth for that day.