The Taste of Gracious Living

 1Peter 2:1-3  "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: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." 







Terms Defined:
Malice: desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another, either because of a hostile impulse or out of deep-seated meanness:

Guile:  insidious cunning in attaining a goal; crafty or artful deception; duplicity.

Hypocrisies: a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.

Envies:  a feeling of grudging or somewhat admiring discontent aroused by the possessions, achievements, or qualities of another

Evil Speakings: morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked. Harmful; injurious: Characterized or accompanied by misfortune or suffering; unfortunate; disastrous speaking done with the intent to hurt or harm.

The words in the above list all have one thing in common with one another,  they all deal with the relationships that we have with other people. How we treat others, how we present ourselves to others, and how we view others are all represented.  The fleshly instinct that we have in our beings causes us to watch out for ourselves first. That is what leads us to the desires of malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies, and evil speakings. 

The question today is, have you laid these things aside?  Part of what is stunting our growth as Christians is the fact that we refuse to lay these desires down.  For whatever reason, it seems as if we would rather hold on to these instead of doing what is necessary to grow in the Lord.  We must get a taste of the graciousness of God.  God's graciousness is just the opposite of the desires listed in verse one.  Graciousness always has others in mind, and when we understand how gracious God is in our lives we are compelled to treat those around us with the same gracious attitude that God bestows upon us.

Have you truly tasted of God's grace? When you do, laying aside these things is so much easier to do.  Go ahead and take a taste, you'll like it.