1 Peter 2:1-3

"So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good."

I wasn't sure what the exact meaning of malice was, so I looked it up in the American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. It defines the word as "1. A desire to harm others or to see others suffer; extreme ill will or spite. 2. Law The intent, without just cause or reason, to commit a wrongful act that will result in harm to another."

I think of this as a mean streak in someone. But it most likely goes beyond mere cruelty. Selfishness is involved in the malice. When someone wants to damage another because of envy, he can accomplish his goal through deceit. Lies are spread about people to damage their reputation. Often times the one spreading the lies maintains a friendly facade with the person he is spreading lies about. This adds hypocrisy to the sins of malice and deceit.

Christians are not to manifest this kind of behavior. In order to put avoid that bad behavior, we need to delight in something other than selfish gain. We need to delight in God's Word. We need to desire the word like newborns desire milk. I spent some time yesterday with a family that had a month old baby. The baby's schedule consisted of eating, being changed, sleeping, and crying. But it was driven mostly by it's desire to feed.

I am distracted by many things. But in my distraction, I rarely forget to eat. I am driven by hunger to consume physical food. I need to have the same desire for spiritual milk and meat. I need physical food to maintain my health. I no longer am growing, except to replace old cells, therefore, I don't need as much food as I did as a teenager. But spiritually, I am not to stop growing. I should seek nourishment ravenously, so that I might grow.

Growing and seeking the word is the natural response to salvation. If I've found the Lord to be good, I must seek more of Him. When I taste something delightful, I often want more right then. If not then, I'll want more of it later. What about God's word? I've tasted that the Lord is good, better than any culinary delight I could imagine. I must desire more. I do, but I must desire more all of the time. Everyday, not three days a week, not five. Food is less important. I must desire the word.