October 6

Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul. — 1 Pet 2:11 BSB

The promise of a heavenly home should inspire us to live worthily in this world. There are certain things we must remove from our lives if we are on the path to our promised land. We should cleanse our lives of all hypocrisy and anything that is insincere or false.

Envy has no place in a Christian’s heart, and it cannot be carried through heaven’s gate.

“Evil speaking” is another behavior we must leave behind. Sadly, there is far too much evil speaking among those who claim to follow Christ. In many circles, you’ll hear criticism of others, unkind remarks, or gossip that tarnishes the beauty of our faith.

We should train ourselves now to do the things we will continue to do when we reach heaven. There will be no evil speaking there, so we should stop it here and speak only words of love.