1. Peter finishes the section of imperatives of the Christian life begun in 1:13 with a call to put off the old life with its character faults which hurt brotherly love and to nurture the new life by the Word of God. He uses to pictures to do that: that of stripping off clothing (representing the habits that interfere with love); and that of newborn babies (representing the single-minded craving for spiritual sustenance, the Word of God, which produces growth).

2. "’Get rid of any malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander,’ writes the apostle (verse 1). These things don’t go with a godly life. There’s one thing for which you should be really thankful—that only you and God have all the facts about yourself. What is it that needs to be put out of your life? A bad attitude toward someone? A pretense of being what you are not? An enslaving habit? Reality in this business of saintly living is a long ways from superficiality. Deep down you may be pretty shallow. Perhaps you have talked farther than you have walked in this matter. God has one cure for sin in your life—get rid of it! Confess it. Reject it. Forsake it." (Murdock)

3. The thing that characterizes a newborn is its craving for its mother’s milk. Christians should crave the milk of the Word in that same way. It is the Word of God which produces healthy Christians and makes spiritual growth and development possible. Milk here stands for the Word which produces a maturing Christian life. Paul and the writer of Hebrews change the metaphor slightly using milk to speak of the elementary things of the Christian life and meat as the deeper things. (1 Corinthians 3:1-4; Hebrews 5:11-14).

4. "…the main reason for the arrested development of modern Christians is found in their neglect of spiritual food, … which is necessary to grown to full moral maturity." (Erdman)

5. There should be a yearning for the Word of God in the life of the saved person. If there is no desire for the Word of God—something is wrong.