2:1 - Rid yourself takes action on our part. We have to actively work to get rid of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. It doesn't just go away. You have to work to get it out of your life and then you have to do some things to prevent it from coming back.
2:2 - Like an infant craves the milk of it's mother which gives it life and helps it grow, we have to begin to crave the Word of God that way. I am convinced this needs to be a major part of who we are as churches. We need to develop our ministries and efforts so that people are able to focus on craving God's teaching, receiving it and then growing in it. It is so easy to get busy with everything else. If we would help people grow in Christ through His Word we would have healthier Christians, healthier churches and a much more effective ministry.
2:8 - The stumble because they disobey the message...People stumble so much because they don't know or understand the Bible. If we would help them learn the Bible and learn how to learn the Bible, they would do so much better.
2:9 - chosen people, royal priesthood, holy nation, God's special possession...THAT you may declare his praises
2:10 - Once...but now. I love that. Once, but now. Once you were a lot of things, but now in Christ you are something completely different. Once you were a drunk. Once you were sexually immoral. Once you were angry. Once you had no hope. Once you...you fill in the blank. But now, now you are forgiven. Now you are free. Now you are moral. Now you have hope. Now you are being changed.
2:11 - foreigners and exiles
Sin wars against your soul. The way to overcome it is (vs 12) to live such a good life that others see and praise God.
2:13 - Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake...I have heard, read and seen more things that have to do with submitting to authority lately than you can imagine. I am struck by how much we fight against any and all forms of authority in our lives. We try so hard to live with us being the final authority and it doesn't work. I know Christians, many of us, who think God is broken, but in reality we are broken in that we will not submit to God by submitting to the people in authority in our lives. We submit on our terms which really isn't submission at all. Our problems stem from the Garden of Eden which was all about people struggling to submit. And hear this, submission issues are ALWAYS centered on trust issues. If you and I trusted God we would willingly submit to everyone He calls us to without fear. We don't submit because we don't trust that God will work things out.
2:15 - DO GOOD!!! In our culture there is such a shift to our actions being highly insignificant. That i snot true. Our hearts matter, but our hearts are proven by our actions. God has called every Christian to DO GOOD. You cannot follow God and not do. Following God is an action and not just an emotion.
2:16 - Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves. It is easy for me to use my freedom in Christ for myself rather than for what it is intended for. I can hide behind grace instead of honoring it.
2:21 - You were called to a life lived well that will bring suffering.
2:23 - Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. This is one of my favorite verses. It talks about when Jesus was mocked and beaten and the fact that He didn't cry out or hit back or scheme or run. Jesus simply trusted God and kept walking faithfully. This verse means I need to walk with God no matter what the crowd is doing or doing to me. Circumstances never change God. I honor God when I walk with Him no matter what is happening around or in me. Entrust yourself to God instead of to your boss or the promotion board or the teacher or the supervisor or the government or the whatever. Put all of your value in God and then walk faithfully no matter what they say or do.
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