1 Peter 2:1-2

(1) Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, (2) as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.



GOD offers us the chance to return to the innocent bliss of childhood, spiritually speaking. Our souls have been corrupted by the fallen world and the prince of the power of air, as well as our own natural desire to do wrong, which was unleashed on us when Adam and Eve first disobeyed their (our) CREATOR. Peter tells us to lay aside malice, which is the evil desire to do or wish harm to others. He tells us to resist deceit (lying, slandering, seductive and untruthful activity), Hypocrisy (pretending to be what we are not), envy (the desire to possess what belongs to another) and evil speaking (also slander, lie, gossip and using our tongues to destroy other.)

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What Peter tells us is much easier said than done. Our society has ingrained the false necessity to use these these evil practices. There are the extreme cases, which we recognize as evil, such as murder (malice), cheating on the scale of Wall Street ponzi schemes (deceit), politics (hypocrisy), theft and adultery (envy) and smear campaigns (evil speak) but in all honesty, even the best of us are guilty of the above on some level. If you've ever wished someone would just "go jump in a lake." This is also a malicious thought.



Mindful and careful inward reflection and considering our actions and how GOD would feel about them before we actually do them is difficult but would be effective in quelling some of our worldly and evil actions. With diligence and effort, we can reduce our desire to behave as such and thus regain our spiritual innocence and be open to the Word that would ultimately result in our spiritual growth in GOD.