Put Away All Unloving Acts

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking (1 Peter 2:1).

Because they are partakers of the divine life, Christians should put away once for all the following unloving acts:

Malice: the harboring of evil thoughts against another person. Malice nourishes antagonism, builds up grudges, and secretly hopes that revenge, harm, or tragedy will overtake another. George Washington Carver was refused admission at a university because he was black. Years later, when someone asked him the name of the university, he replied, “Never mind. That doesn’t matter now.” He harbored no malice.

Deceit: any form of dishonesty and trickery (and what a variety of forms it takes!). Deceit falsifies income tax returns, cheats on exams, lies about age, bribes officials, and pulls shady deals in business.

Hypocrisy: insincerity, pretense, sham. The hypocrite is a play-actor, pretending to be someone he is not. He pretends to be happily married when his home is actually a battlefield. He pretends to be spiritual on Sundays but he is as carnal as a goat on weekdays. He pretends interest in others but his motives are selfish.

Envy: bare-faced jealousy. Vine defines it as the feeling of displeasure produced by observing or hearing of the advantage or prosperity of others. It was envy that caused the chief priests to deliver Jesus up to Pilate for death (Matthew 27:18). Envy is still a killer. Women can look daggers at others because of their better homes and gardens, smarter clothes, or superior cooking. A man can praise another fellow’s new car or speedboat but what he is thinking is, “I’ll show him. I’ll get something better.”

Evil Speaking: backbiting, malicious gossip, recrimination. Slander is the attempt to make oneself look cleaner by slinging mud at someone else. It may take very subtle forms such as: “Yes, she is a lovely person but she has this one failing. . . .” and then the knife is deftly thrust into her back. Or it may even have a religious pose: “I mention this only for your prayer fellowship, but did you know that he. . . .” and then the character is assassinated.

All of these sins are violations of the fundamental commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. No wonder Peter tells us to decisively rid ourselves of them.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.