Put on the Armor of God
by Brandy Webb
My daughter decided to take the plunge and get baptized. Honestly, she has thought about it for two whole years. She did not want to be hasty, so she took her time before making her decision. Her dad and I are very happy for her, but we also have warned her that now that she has made the complete decision to walk in the way, she will face attacks from the deceiver.
The deceiver does not like it when one of us decides to fully become a child of God. That is why being prepared is vital in our Christian walk. We are to “put on the full armor of God, so that [we] can make [our] stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:11). Why? Because we do not face things we can see. Our attackers are not “flesh and blood,” but they are rulers, authorities, “powers of this world’s darkness,” and “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). There is a battle out there for us and against us in a realm we can’t see nor can we comprehend. Therefore, being equipped with God’s armor is one of the most important things to put on first thing in the morning every day.
So, I wanted to take a closer look at different parts of God’s armor and their roles and importance. These are my ideas, and I would love to hear if you have another idea of the meanings behind the different types of attire. So, please comment and share.
The first part of the armor is the “belt of truth fastened around [our] waist” (Ephesians 6:14a). The first thought I had was the importance to not have your “pants fall down” in a fight. That would be very embarrassing both literally and hypothetically. We need to know the truth in order for our full armor to stay in place. If we don’t know the truth we will trip up when facing Satan’s deceptions. He knows the Bible and is able to twist God’s words to manipulate people, so knowing God’s Truth is vital to keeping “your pants up.”
The next part of the armor is the “breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14b). The breastplate covers our chest and sometimes our back, depending on the type of breastplate. This covering keeps our heart safe, which is important, “for out of the abundance of the heart” the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). We need righteousness to cover our heart to make sure that the words coming out of our mouths are words of life and truth and not of death and destruction. Our words are powerful. Just do a word study, no pun intended, on the subject and learn how important it is to think before you speak.
Next are shoes. It is important to have good foot attire, for our feet have a very important job to do. They keep us upright and get us from point A to point B. Therefore, we must make sure we know the Gospel, so that we can live it in order to teach it to others as we are walking by the way. Jesus’ gospel is to give peace to the suffering and hope to the hopeless, and we are commanded to share it with others during this short time of our existence. So, we must make sure we understand the Gospel, and that our lives reveal it to others wherever we go. Shoes are made for walking. Walk in the Gospel and be a light in the world.
Now it is time for us to grab our shield of faith. Faith is a strong belief that what we hope for, yet cannot see, is going to happen (Hebrews 11:1). It is our faith that helps us get through the tough times because we know that this life is not all there is. We know that we can’t see God’s Kingdom now, but we hope for it and have faith of its existence. Well, we also can’t see the “flaming arrows of the evil one,” so having a strong shield is required to extinguish them before they can cause damage to us (Ephesians 6:16). Our faith is what helps us to be strong and rejoice when we face various trials, and it is also what secures the helmet of salvation on our head. Our faith helps us to know that our salvation is secured as we walk in the Gospel. Our helmet of salvation can protect our minds and thoughts if we first “seek the Kingdom of God” and not worry about this life (Matthew 6:33). Therefore, having strong faith means having a strong helmet protecting your head, mind, and thoughts.
We are finally dressed, yet a good soldier does require a weapon; therefore, we must equip ourselves with the Word of God, which is our sword. The more we know God’s Word, the sharper our sword becomes, which we need to aid us in the spiritual warfare that tries to attack all Christians from many directions. We can’t just know the Word by only hearing about it during Church services. We are responsible for our own Christian walk; therefore, get in the Bible and learn the Word of God or run the risk at holding onto a very dull sword.
Our armor is only as strong as our knowledge of our Creator. There is a war out there waging against God’s people. It is our duty to make sure we are prepared for it. God can and will help us, but He also wants us to make the choice to equip ourselves with the tools that He has given us for that purpose. So, put on the full armor of God daily and stand strong.