“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” (1 Peter 2:1, ESV).

My first mission trip was to East Europe. We spent a few days in Germany and then drove through Czechoslovakia and into Poland. The culmination of the trip was a visit to the Soviet Union. I had never been overseas before. I had rarely traveled outside of the Southeastern United States. Like many inexperienced travelers, I bought the largest suitcase that I could find, a gigantic, hard-sided monstrosity with about the same capacity as a foot-locker. I stuffed it with everything that I might possibly need. I packed a flashlight, spare batteries, and a spare flashlight, just in case something happened to the first one. I am sure the luggage porters at the airports were cursing me. The customs agents were most certainly mocking me. By the end of the trip, I was regretting my purchase of the suitcase and wishing that I had not carried so much stuff.

After several years of international travel, I learned my lesson. I filled that old suitcase with as many local-language Bibles as I could carry, left it with a courageous Christian brother in a city in East Asia, and then spent the next three weeks visiting various ministry locations with nothing more than a small shoulder satchel of clothes. Thankfully, I never saw that suitcase again.

The stuff we carry when we come to Christ must be set aside to make room for what we need to take with us—the Word of God.

As we travel through this world, pilgrims just passing through, we need to be careful as to what we carry with us. When we come to Christ, our big bags are packed, weighed down with what the Apostle Paul calls the “old self” (Ephesians 4:22). Because the good news has been preached to us, a good Word that endures forever (1 Peter 1:25), we no longer have to carry that suitcase. In fact, we are to cast it off, to lay it aside, literally to put it away. The stuff we carry when we come to Christ must be set aside to make room for what we need to take with us—the Word of God. “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14).

What are you carrying? To provoke thought and introspection, Peter gives a brief list of some of the things that we tend to carry with us.

We don’t need to carry malice anymore. Malice brings to mind ill-will against another person. Malice is having it in for someone, the desire to hurt another person. The original Greek word, however, denotes all manner of wickedness. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31).

We don’t need to carry deceit anymore. Deceit is synonymous with guile. It is dishonesty. It is manipulation. Guile is seen in the person who always has an ulterior motive. You see her coming and wonder, “What’s her angle?” You hear his voice, and wonder, “What is this going to cost me?” Guile is contaminating. “Coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person” (Matthew 7:23).

We don’t need to carry hypocrisy anymore. The word hypocrisy comes from a Greek theater term, a word describing a stage actor, a person wearing a mask or playing a role. It is someone who pretends to be someone or something different than he really is. A hypocrite is the person who has one face for one place, and another face for a different place. Jesus had a lot to say about hypocrites. “And he said to them, ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me’” (Mark 7:6).

We don’t need to carry envy anymore. Envy is the desire to be like someone else, but at their expense. It is the desire to take what they are and to take what they have for oneself. Envy is a form of hatred—hating a person because of some quality or possession that they have. This is why the religious leaders hated Jesus so much. They were envious of His popularity (Mark 15:10). Envious people will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).

We don’t need to carry slander anymore. Slander, evil-speaking, is to harm a person by speaking against him. It is usually done in secret; the word is sometimes rendered as “backbiting.” Like envy, it is a form of hatred. Like malice, it is designed to hurt. Like guile, it is deceitful. The slanderer will usually say nice things to a person’s face, but can’t wait to destroy her when her back is turned.

We are to cast these things off because they stand in opposition to God’s Word. They are opposed to spiritual, Christian growth. What are you carrying? Make sure you are carrying the right things.

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14).

Things to Do:

• Open the “suitcase” of your heart. Ask the Lord to help you examine the contents. Are there some items that you need to quit carrying? One way to accomplish this would be to ask a trusted friend to let you know what they see you carrying. It is a hard, but helpful exercise.

• Make a list of the things that you would like to carry, things like hope, peace, and kindness. Ask the Lord to help you to add more of these qualities to your suitcase, and then to carry your suitcase well.

• Read and meditate on Colossians 3:12-14. Read and meditate on Galatians 5:22-23. Which characteristic on these lists do you consider most important? Why?

• For family worship, consider the song “Selah III” (by Hillsong Young & Free). It is a simple chorus presenting the fruit of the Spirit and a desire to have a heart like Christ’s.