Growing One Day at a Time
Most parents reading this are motivated to point their kids to Jesus. You’re showing up, opening the Bible with your kids, doing the work. That matters. But Peter’s vision in this passage goes a little further than showing up. He isn’t just describing families who read Scripture together. He is describing families who are hungry for it. There is a difference, and most of us have moments when we feel that gap.
Let’s look at what he says.
Bible Focus
1 Peter 2:1–3 (ESV) – “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.”
Devotional Thoughts
Peter opens with a short list of attitudes to put away: malice (wanting to harm others), deceit (being dishonest to get what you want), hypocrisy (pretending to be something you’re not), envy (resenting what someone else has), and slander (saying harmful things about others). These aren’t faraway sins. They’re some of the main culprits that show up at the dinner table and in the car ride home. Peter’s purpose here isn’t to pile on guilt, but to clear the way for something even more significant.
And here is what that better thing is: a genuine hunger for God’s Word.
Peter uses the image of a newborn baby. No one has to remind a healthy baby that it’s time to eat. When they’re hungry, everyone knows it. That kind of desire is what Peter says we should have for God’s Word – the Bible.
That doesn’t mean it always feels that way. Some days reading the Bible takes discipline more than desire. But Peter points us back to something we have already experienced: if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Once you’ve tasted it, you know what it’s like. God’s Word is not just information. It is the means by which God shapes us, renews us, and grows us into something we could not become on our own. The goodness of God is what keeps us coming back.
That is what Peter is calling your family to. Not just a discipline, which has value, but an appetite for His Word and the impact that has in the life of your family.
Family Questions
Why do you think Peter uses the image of a hungry baby to describe how we should want God’s Word?
Peter lists some attitudes that get in the way of loving God and each other. Which one do you think is hardest to put away and why?
What is one thing our family could do differently this week to spend more time in God’s Word together?
Family Prayer
Father, thank You for giving us Your Word. We confess that we don’t always hunger for it the way we should. Grow that hunger in us. Help us put away the attitudes that get in the way, and give our family a genuine love for Scripture. Not out of obligation, but because we have tasted that You are good. In Jesus’ name, amen.
This Week’s Challenge
Pick one specific time each day this week to open the Bible together as a family – after dinner, before bed, wherever it fits. Choose a short passage, read it out loud, and ask one question: what does this passage show us about Jesus? Keep it simple. Just show up every day and let God’s Word do the work.
Explore More 1 Peter Devotions
Love One Another | 1 Peter 1:22-25 | 5-Minute Family Devotion
Redeemed by Jesus | 1 Peter 1:17–21 | 5-Minute Family Devotion
Called to Holiness | 1 Peter 1:14–16 | 5-Minute Family Devotions
Set Your Hope on Jesus | 1 Peter 1:13 | 5-Minute Family Devotions
View the complete 1 Peter Family Study
Family Discipleship Recommendations
Looking for more ways to disciple your family? Explore Bible studies, devotionals, and practical tools here: Family Resources at Discipleship Cliff
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