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