Spiritual Warfare-Part 3

¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:14-18

The “Spiritual Armor” of God is something I have been familiar with for many years. I learned about the “Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Shoes of Peace, Helmet of Salvation, Shield of Faith, and Sword of the Spirit” in Sunday school years ago watching the infamous Bible Man. If you’re not familiar…please enjoy this picture of Bible Man dressed in the “full armor of God.”

While this Christian video series was incredibly cheesy, it actually had a pretty important point. “Bible Man” never went to battle without his suit of armor, and we should not do so either. In Ephesians, Paul encourages the Church to be protected and prepared for any challenge that could potentially tear them down. He wanted the people of Ephesus to realize that being ready to fight temptation and turmoil, and avoiding situations that are potentially harmful, could make the difference between sinking and staying afloat.

In the same sense, we should go through life with these principles. So often, we like to claim ourselves as victims of fear, lies, temptation, stress, or immorality. However, we need to remember that we are in complete control of how we respond to situations. Often times, we even control the situations we encounter based on the decisions we make and the people in which we surround ourselves.

Instead of being reactive, we need to be prepared for spiritual battle. To recap, there are seven main elements to our “spiritual armor” that can protect us in these testing times:

The Belt of Truth:

To be spiritually equipped, we need to constantly study The Word. Doing so, we will be more capable to define truth and hold on to it when lies and deception try to slither their way into our lives.

Breastplate of Righteousness:

Living a life that is upright and in line with God’s Word will help us to avoid situations that could be detrimental. Furthermore, having pre-determined standards will improve our ability to resist temptation.

Shoes of Peace:

Shoes are the protective covering that provide us with stability and balance. In the same sense, declaring God’s peace over our lives’ protect us from falling “victim” to insecurity, self-pity, and fear. While the struggles we face may still be difficult, God’s peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) can prevent us from falling apart in these troublesome times.

Shield of Faith:

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of the things we do not see. In other words, to have faith in God is to trust that He will take care of us even when we don’t know what may come our way. When our faith is strongly rooted in the Lord, the Bible tells us that the “flaming arrows,” or attacks of the enemy, are extinguished.

Helmet of Salvation:

What if we were to go through life constantly remembering all that God did to save us from eternal turmoil? When we keep our minds set on God and who He is, we are less problem-focused and more in tune with God’s power and presence in every situation.

Sword of Spirit:

This is the Word of God. When we study the Bible, we are able to use it as a strong and powerful weapon. It can shut down lies of the enemy, and it can encourage and direct us through the battles we face.

Prayer:

Prayer is the powerful force that should be interwoven throughout our spiritual armor. When we are constantly in prayer, we are continuously aware and on guard for all that is going on in the spiritual realm.

Freedom Christian, I encourage you to put on your spiritual armor. Let’s stop claiming ourselves as victims of the enemy, and believe that our God is greater than our struggles. Let’s fight against temptation, fear, stress, self-pity, lies, and other attacks of the enemy. Let us remember that OUR GOD has already won the battle! 

Written by: Tamara Sturdivant 

Edited by: Brigit Edwards