Aah! Body armors seem to be the talk of the town these days. There is a blockbuster movie currently showing that is getting most people excited. As with all feel-good movies, good eventually triumphs over evil; and although the body armors of both the hero and villain are made of the same element, the sincerity and good heart of the hero causes him to emerge as the victor.
Thank God, we Christians also have our own guaranteed-victorious body armor for battling the unseen forces of evil. As Paul instructed us, we must put on: The Belt (or Girdle) of Truth; The Helmet of salvation; The Breastplate of Righteousness; The Shield of Faith; The Sword of the Spirit and feet fitted with the readiness of the Gospel of Peace (Ephesians 6: 10-17). Together, these 6 elements make up the complete Body Armor of Christ that is guaranteed to show the spirits of wickedness, who The Boss really is.
It is instructive that the Belt of Truth is the first component mentioned. Through the years, the conventional school of thought has been to infer that this Girdle refers to the Truth of God’s Word. But I want to imagine differently for a second, because already, we are told explicitly that the Sword is God’s Word. What if the Truth as a Girdle refers to sincerity? To God’s desire for us to be sincere and truthful always and to hate lies as much as He does? In the same letter to the Ephesians, Paul implores the congregation to lay aside falsehood and always speak truth to each other – Eph. 4:25. We also know Jesus referred to satan as a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
Going with that premise, let’s take another look at the imagery: Imagine this soldier facing his enemies (spiritual wickedness) with everything in place: helmet, shield, breastplate, belt, sword and sandals. He is saved and made righteous in Jesus. He has a strong faith and knows his Bible inside out, therefore can quote relevant scripture as his sword. He is committed to preaching the Gospel of Peace. However his girdle is slack, because, well, he is as comfortable with lies as he is with the truth and his heart is insincere. One can only imagine that without his girdle snug around his torso, he is easily distracted as it keeps on falling down and he has to keep on fixing it to remain comfortable enough to focus on the ongoing battle.
Truth be told…. nowhere did Apostle Paul hint that we would be okay with four or five out of those six Body Armor elements. If our hearts are insincere and our tongues comfortable with lies, we have already yielded some ground in our battle to the enemy, who as we know is the father of lies. All he has to do is begin to work at loosening or dismantling all the other components of the Body Armor, one by one. The enemy could make us doubt our faith or steer us away from understanding the power of God’s Word as a Sword. And the Gospel of Peace, Christ’s own peace bequeathed to us? That is the one component he likes to take away from us when he gets us in a frenzy about everything.
May we always be alert to the tricks of the enemy that are intended to disarm us. May we always be able to stand our ground in all our battles, fully clothed with all the components of the Body Armor of God. Amen.
‘Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices’. Colossians 3:9
‘The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy’. Proverbs 13:5
Hilltop Thoughts, Valley Strengths 