Lord’s Day, Vol. 5 No. 27

Finding Spiritual Growth

 1 Peter 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.

Pre-requisite for Growth

To grow spiritually, we are to remove hindrances to our spiritual lives. The words “laying aside” describe putting off garment, putting off the old man and putting on righteousness, putting on Christ. The emphasis is on the action of putting off. It has to be done by each one personally. It is a call to self-examination. We are to do so continuously – “laying aside”. Peter exhorts us to lay aside the following:

a) Malice is “a spirit of ill will with a desire to get even”. A child of God should not follow the ways of the world, the old ways. You punch me, I punch you harder in return, having a vengeful spirit. It will hinder the effective entrance of God’s Word into our lives. The Christian has often to suffer wrong and wait upon God for vindication.

b) Guile has the idea of “deceit”. Deceit literally means bait for fish, thus it denotes to hatch a plot for deceiving and catching. Similar description includes cunning, craftiness – a desire to get the better of another through cunning plots and deception – selfish, two-faced attitude that deceives and hurts others for personal gain (falsehood, craft, seduction, slander and treachery). Deceit takes on the appearance of truth so that the unwary may be tricked.

c) Hypocrisies are pretences. A tendency to paint a perfect picture of oneself, a tendency to cover up what he is not, a man with a double heart and a double tongue.

d) Envy is the feeling of displeasure when one witnesses or hears of the advantage or prosperity of others. Envy is a desire to possess what belongs to someone else. Envy often leads to holding a grudge. Envy and jealously are signs of spiritual immaturity. A mature Christian is one who learns to be content with what God gives him and not one who desires the possession or circumstances of others.

e) Evil speakings – God’s people are to take great care to guard our mouth against words with evil motive and purpose. Evil communications greatly curtail Christian growth – slander, speech that runs down and disparages another, a vice to deliberately assault the character of another and usually takes place behind the victim’s back.

Process of Growth

New born babies display a real craving for milk. The hunger of a baby for milk is of such frequency that his mother is hardly rested before the need for feeding comes again. The crying baby when he is hungry can only be satisfied when mother offers the baby the needed nourishment.

Peter is using this picture to describe the life of a healthy Christian. Spiritual growth is always marked by a craving for and a delight in God’s Word with an intensity with which a baby craves for milk.

This is the picture of a true Christian. He realizes that he cannot order his life aright and he sees that God’s Word provides for him the solution needed to order his life.

Therefore he longs to be instructed and to know how to live this new life in Christ. He realizes the inadequacies of his old way. It is crooked, inadequate, and deficient. He faces endless frustration and misery living by his own wisdom.

Only Christians with that kind of desire for God’s Word can grow unto maturity.

Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

The strong desire for God’s Word must be met with the provision of sincere milk of the word. The word ‘sincere’ has the meaning of pure and unadulterated, wholesome.

We are to be exposed to the pure teaching of God’s Word that we may truly grow. If we lack regular intake of the ‘sincere milk’ of God’s Word, we will stumble in our spiritual growth. How do you get your regular intake of spiritual food?

Motivation for Growth

 The Christian looks to God for grace to supply all his needs. This is done through prayer according to the will of God.

The Christian walk is very much experiential. We are to know our weaknesses and to apply God’s Word and see the power of God working in our lives to effect change. That will spur us on to continue to study God’s Word and to grow thereby.

Yours lovingly,

Pastor Lek Aik Wee