The Big Five -- Traits of A Dark Heart

The Big Five — Traits of a Dark Heart  

1 Peter 2:1-3

Therefore, if indeed you’ve tasted the goodness of the Lord these things should not be a part of who you are, Peter heartens. 

 

In the first chapter of Peter’s letter he reiterates the glorious inheritance of followers of Jesus and encourages us to live with gratitude, obeying the truths of Jesus’ teachings. 

Chapter two begins with the transition adverb, therefore—meaning thus, hence, or consequently. So now, let’s see what the previous portion is there for. 

“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, an all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that they Lord is gracious” (1 Peter 2:1-3) 

Photo by Connie Wohlford

The point Peter is making is this: Now that the revelation of Jesus Christ has come to you and you have been born-again through God’s incorruptible Word, you have the ability to put aside—that is get rid of—the vices he proceeds to list.  

Notice … these are all heart issues. When we are born-again, God gives a new heart—a heart that’s pliable in His hands. But the results of the transformation are not automatic. As Peter says, we have to put aside these vices. It’s our responsibility to remove them from our behavior patterns. 

Let’s dissect them:

 1- Malice – evil, naughty, wickedness, spite. *p.39

 2- Deceit - craftiness, guile, trickery, fraud. *p. 24

 3- Hypocrisy – dissimulation, faking, lying. *p.74

 4- Envy – ill-will, jealousy. *p. 75

 5- Evil speaking – We can say a lot here about the difficulty of taming the tongue.

These are natural human behaviors of which we must make a conscious decision to take control. 

Let’s consider some reasons why we do these things:

•  To get our way.
•   To gain material things.
• To save face.
•   To impress others.
•   Defense mechanisms.

Can you think of other reasons? We’ve all experienced the above situations and the related feelings.

God told Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). 

A heart of stone is cold and hardened toward God. A heart of flesh is pliable, like clay, in God’s hands. He can mold it into His own design and lead a person into His plan and purpose for that individual. If the individual cooperates, the result is abundant life—a life fulfilled in Christ, productive in God’s kingdom, and one that produces much good fruit. 

The transformation is likened to a newborn babe (v.2) who begins life outside the womb on pure milk. As such, we set out born-again and growing in what we have tasted—that the Lord is gracious (v.3). Indeed, we have now experienced amazing grace in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).  So, because of our new heart and with the help of the Holy Spirit we have the capacity to put away and overcome The Big Five Traits of A Dark Heart: malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking.

We can have a heart which reflects the light of Christ, empowering us to be light in darkness so we can be our best and be an encouragement to others. 

Pick out one of the five dark traits that is most troubling to you. Ask God to help you put it aside and overcome that weakness and thus live a fuller life in Christ.  

Thanks for reading my post. Your comments are welcome.

Check in again soon to see what happens next in St. Peter’s 

letter. 

©Connie Wohlford 2018

The Royal Law

The Royal Law 

Do you obey the Royal Law? Do you know what it is?

Here’s a hint: According to ancient Jewish sages, Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Akiba, the Royal Law summarized and fulfills all the Commandments. 

Recently, I did an unscientific survey on Facebook asking this question: ”Without looking it up, do you know what the ‘Royal Law’ is?” At last count, this post received 625 views and of the nineteen who commented, only two said they knew the answer. So, if you’re unacquainted with the term, you’re not alone.

Most of us are familiar with Jesus’ answer to the question, “Which is the greatest commandment?”

He responded: “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV).

A neighbor, according to Christ, is anyone—"irrespective of nation or religion with whom we live or whom we chance to meet.” (1.) 

I don’t know about you, but there are some people in my life whom I find hard to love. One might say, “They rub me the wrong way.”

Side Note: A few days ago, while sitting next to my fifteen-year-old grandson, I asked him if he knew the meaning of rubbing someone the wrong way. He said, “No.”

I then put my hand on the top of his ankle and rubbed upward on his hairy shin to his knee.

He immediately rubbed his leg from the knee downward, undoing my disruption, and tilted his face at me sporting a confused look.

I grinned and said, “That’s what it means to rub someone the wrong way—when you do something that makes the person uncomfortable or annoyed. I just rubbed the hair on your leg the wrong way and you didn’t like it, did you?”

He understood and shook his head.

We all have someone in our lives who rubs us the wrong way. But that person still is among those who Jesus says is our neighbor.  

In the first few verses of The Epistle of James we’re instructed on loving people and treating all individuals respectfully. James doesn’t mince words when he writes, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors” (James 2:8-9).

James encourages us to love like Jesus. He emphasizes that we not place value on a person based on a characteristic or circumstance of that person. In our humanness, this is a tall order, but with the help of the Holy Spirit we can do it.

There it is—the Royal Law. James’ letter is the only place in Scripture where this term is used. He bases his exhortation on the teachings of Jesus as well as his Jewish upbringing in the Torah.

The Royal Law goes all the way back to Leviticus 19:18b: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

Wow—did Yahweh really need to end that directive with, “I am the Lord”? Humm. I believe He meant it. 

Lawn of the Deltaville Maritime Museum, Virginia - Photo by Connie Wohlford

Loving as you love yourself is also a concept worthy of discussion. “’You shall love your neighbor as yourself:’ the word ‘love’ (Hebrew ahav) could be understood as esteem. Love of one’s neighbor begins with self-esteem. Then one esteems his neighbor.” (2.)

 

Do you esteem yourself? Self-respect and self-esteem are essential before we can sincerely esteem and respect others. This brings to mind The Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” an offshoot of Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31.

Referencing the passage from Leviticus, writings of Rabbi Hillel prompted a song titled, “Rabbi Hillel’s Golden Rule.”  Here is part of the chorus:

Treat other people how you want them to treat you
This rule is golden, this rule is true
Don't do to others something that would make you feel bad
Think about other’s feelings, no matter if you’re happy or mad

Are we obeying the Royal Law? We need divine help in accomplishing this objective and it is one of many reasons God put His Spirit in followers of Christ Jesus. Let’s do as James instructed and love others as we love ourselves, even without partiality.

Let us pray. Oh Lord, You know me well and You’re very aware that I often don’t have love in my heart for some people as I should. Yet, You want me to love everyone. I know that with the help of Your Holy Spirit, I can obey the Royal Law. Please help me be mindful of others and yield to the flow of love You wish to pour out to my neighbors through me. Thank You, Father. In Jesus’ name—Amen.

©Connie Wohlford 2018

1.    www.biblestudytools.com; The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon

2.    Spirit-Filled Life Bible; Thomas Nelson Publishing; 1991; Commentary for Leviticus 19:18; page 172

3.    https://www.jewishlearningmatters.com/AC-Rabbi-Hillel-s-Golden-Rule-533.aspx;  "Rabbi Hillel’s Golden Rule" by "Miss" Emily Aronoff Teck

What’s on Your Mind?

What’s on Your Mind?

Today, I’m re-posting a writing I did a while back. The premise of this piece is just as true today as it was then and for many people I know it’s more meaningful today than it was one or two or three years ago. Please be encouraged. 

I don’t know about you, but I certainly have a lot on my mind these days. We all have personal and family matters to think about. Many of us also make room in our minds for multiple connections with church, friends, jobs, and community. Besides all that, our minds are bombarded with news (good and bad) and events, both local and global.

This very day I concern myself with meeting with friends for Bible study, transporting a grandchild to swim practice, household and business responsibilities, writing responsibilities, and praying that my grandson, who broke his finger, will NOT need surgery. That lists just a few things on my mind today. Most of these things are positive and pleasurable aspects of my life.

Unless we never listen to the news, you and I are blasted with information that can overwhelm our minds, emotions, and spirits if we’re not careful. We truly must take every thought captive—on purpose! (1 Corinthians 10:5)

This very day I was also confronted with much tragic news--- local, national, and global. I’ll mention a few. 

In my community, a five-year-old boy who had been missing for four days was found dead in an old septic system near his home. Last night tornadoes ripped through areas of our nation, destroying property and taking the lives of fellow Americans. It’s been decided that the aircraft, which crashed in the French Alps three days ago, appears to have been deliberately downed by the plane’s co-pilot. And of course, we can’t omit the constant threat of terrorists who seek to kill peace loving, innocent folks all over the world these days. This does not complete the list of negatives that forced their way into my mind today. These kinds of dreadful happenings are powerful forces that can easily dishearten any of us.

SO--What's on your mind today? You may be so consumed with personal misfortune that the calamities beyond your own world have no room at all in your thoughts. Your personal disaster might be related to health, loved ones, financial matters, heavy responsibilities, and on & on & on. Our lists can be endless. It might be so bad that you want to crawl into a protective shell and simply take a fetal position.

But, I’m here to declare today that God’s Word gives good instruction on dealing with a full and troubled mind. One of my favorite methods for coping is to follow the Apostle Paul instructs in Colossians 3:2, where he said, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” 

How are we to accomplish that? It’s not necessarily easy but it is necessarily deliberate. I find that one of the best ways to set one’s mind on things above is to read the Bible. I know that sounds like a simple pat answer but think about it for a moment. Let me give you a personal example.

A few years ago, I was going through several very negative experiences. It seemed that bad things just kept piling on me from many different directions. The helplessness of having no control in trying to alleviate the emotional pain made me wonder just how long I could continue to function. 

I was praying and in the Word consistently, as was my routine. I was even leading a Bible study at the time. But I still found myself dwelling on the negative things that were weighing me down. As I sought God I decided to go to the basics about Jesus, Himself.

I began to read through the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. When I got through that, I read through the book of Acts. No, I didn’t read it all in one day or week or month.

I was doing exactly what Paul had instructed the Colossian believers. I was setting my mind on things above, not on things on the earth. In doing this, God’s Word---studying Jesus—lifted me up to a higher level. 

Those negative situations that kept piling on me did not just evaporate. Some improved, some eventually took care of themselves, some remained pretty much the same, and some got worse. I’ve looked back on that season in my life, a period of about eight months, and see how God used His Word as a tool to help me set my mind on things that are eternal, things that are true, things that are above the earth. During that particular time, I set my mind on Jesus, Himself, as I read through the Gospels. I believe I was led by the Holy Spirit to do exactly that and I’m so glad I followed His leading. 

Let’s look at Paul’s instructions, in its context: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, the you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).  

Notice that the above passage contains abundant meaty encouragement that can set our minds on things above. It instructs, explains how and why, and then points to our eternal hope—all built on Jesus. 

Here we see a good example of the Word’s immense value in helping us set our mind on things above instead of things on the earth. So, be encouraged as you do just that.

 If you’d like, please leave a comment telling of a time when you set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth, and were thus encouraged and lifted out of sadness, or discouragement, or troubles of some kind. We can all be encouraged by one another’s testimonies. Thanks, and God bless you abundantly today! 

 

 ©Connie Wohlford 2018