1 Peter 2:1: “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander”
Garbage collection days at my house are Tuesday and Friday. I roll out the can full of trash so that the waste management team from Ocoee can come by and take it away. It shocks me how much garbage we produce. Are we dirty people? Why all of this trash? No, we are not dirty people. We are a normal family. We do produce a lot of things that have to be removed from the house.
No matter how clean your life and your church, you will have some things to remove and discard. Peter commanded that we get rid of all malice. Malice is hateful feelings expressed through actions and language intended to inflict pain on another. When you harbor these feelings, the Spirit of God is grieved, the unity is injured, and the movement of God is quenched.
Deceit and hypocrisy involve falsehood. Believers live in the light of truth not in the dark shadows of selfish deception. Acting as if you like someone while concealing your true negative feelings only hinder God’s work among a people.
Peter would want us to bag up envy and remove it from our lives and our church. Envy is the source of most criticism and division. Envy motivated those who crucified Jesus. Envy moved Ananias and Sapphira to lie to the Holy Spirit about their gift. Some preach Christ out of envy. Envy should be a common part of that which we carry out of our house and dispose of.
Finally, Peter mentioned slander. Social media has given rise to an easy way of slander. May we put these out of the house, roll them to the street and see them no more. Ask God to expose any of these in your heart.
Pray for a pure heart and clean hands.