like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, for you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:2-3 NABRE
Peter opens this second chapter of his letter to the Christian communities with a naming of five things that all Christians need to remove from their lives. He says rid yourselves of malice, all deceit, insincerity, envy and all slander. These five traits stand in opposition to the qualities of a Christian, to be truth and to love; deceit and insincerity oppose truth, malice, envy and slander oppose our love for one another. If we are to be truth and love then all these sinful patterns that Peter mentions must be pushed away from our lives. Peter tells us to be like a newborn infant, to long for pure spiritual milk needed for growth. As a new born infant needs milk to grow, we Christians born new must receive the spiritual milk of God to grow. To be pure, to have a pure heart is the call of each Christian and it is the opposite of deceit and insincerity. This “spiritual milk” is closely linked to the “word” that is the seed of new birth, the gospel. We want to receive milk which is the word; free from deceit. Pure spiritual milk is the teaching of the word, Jesus word that infects us and changes us, so that we no longer seek to serve ourselves, but seek to serve others, to care for our neighbor and build a community of morally correct leaders, Christians who want truth and love. It is through knowing this milk that we grow into salvation and taste that the Lord is good.
We have tasted the goodness of the Lord, Jesus, when we first came to the word, so we know the taste is good. For most of us it is a matter of attaining maturity, which we do by living in the word and drinking pure spiritual milk.
Do you see truth? Do you love your neighbor?
We have tasted the goodness of the Lord, Jesus, when we first came to the word, so we know the taste is good. For most of us it is a matter of attaining maturity, which we do by living in the word and drinking pure spiritual milk. Click To Tweet#bible’#godisgreat #jesus #christianity #dailybibleverse @youversion #BeAnEncourager #truth #love #Peter #everybodyalways #god #jesuschrist #jesussaves #godisgood #dailydevotion #biblestudy #scripture #bibleverse #verseoftheday #pray #prayer #goodnews #loveeachother #godisgreat #thisVineyard #youversion #everythingalways