This is The armor of God

There’s something in the Bible called the armor of God. Paul describes this in Ephesians, chapter 6, 10-17.

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.
In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 

In short, for better memorization:

Belt of Truth
Breastplate of Righteousness
Helmet of Salvation
Shoes of the Gospel
Shield of Faith
Sword of the Holy Spirit

At the time of the Bible, the world was a rather unsafe place. You couldn’t go from one place to another without putting yourself in huge danger. Especially not as a woman. The Romans were the first to secure traffic routes for normal people. And there was one thing that constituted the Roman soldiers, their armor. So they were pretty safe against all kinds of attacks.

 

Paul used that picture

And Paul used exactly this armor as a picture. He wants to use Roman armor to show us what protective clothing God has made available to us.

The Belt of Truth
First, Paul speaks of the belt of truth that we should put on. That means we’re always supposed to stick to the truth. Sometimes we don’t take the truth so seriously: if we have forgotten a task or made a mistake, we can easily think of a fancy excuse. Or we use the so-called “white lie” with our parents, our boss or the tax office. But with that, we open a door for the devil. If we lie, he’s lying to us. “You’re bad. God doesn’t love you. You’re no good for anything! It’s your fault.” So, put on the belt of truth. Be clear what the truth is. Namely: Jesus loves you! And done. Everything else is a lie.

 

The Breastplate of Righteousness

The breastplate of a Roman soldier was made of metal and protected the whole upper body from attacks. Especially all the important organs, including the heart. When you put on this breastplate of righteousness, you protect your heart from the enemy’s lousy attacks. The breastplate of righteousness means that you are made righteous by Jesus. Jesus died for you and paid with his death for all the crap of your life. You’re free. Or spoken in the words of the Bible: You are made “just” before God. You don’t have to do anything about it. Sometimes you might think, “If you knew what I’ve done. Jesus died for the good. I’m not good enough.” But that’s a lie. Jesus did everything. Don’t let the devil accuse you. Don’t let them tell you you don’t deserve your freedom. You are not liberated because you are so great, but because Jesus died for you. Put on what Jesus did for you like a breastplate.

 

The helmet of salvation

The helmet protects your head, your thoughts. Our thoughts are really bad sometimes. We think the worst crap. And then we believe that too. When someone looks at us stupidly, we think to ourselves: “Oh man, what have I done wrong? He doesn’t like me. Sure, look at me. And what a stupid thing I said again!” Put on the helmet of salvation: You are saved, you are loved, Jesus is the Son of God and He has set you free. He died for you to pay all your debts and all your mistakes once and for all. Jesus loves you.

 

Shoes of the Gospel

Then you shall put on the shoes of the gospel. He wants you to bring Jesus into the world. You should tell people who Jesus is and how much He loves them. If you don’t do this, who else is gonna do it? Go ahead and tell the people about Jesus, show them his love, give a testimony of what you have already experienced with Jesus. And so you can strengthen you own faith and stand on it!

 

The Shield of Faith

Next, hold the shield of faith before you. Imagine you’re holding a fat metal thing in front of you like Captain America. Only you’re not holding real arrows, you’re holding the devil’s arrows. He’s firing attacks and doubts at you. For example, thoughts like, “Are you sure Jesus loves you? Are you sure Jesus even exists? Yeah, he might help others, but he won’t help you. He doesn’t care about you at all. You’re too bad.” And so on. Trust in God. Make yourself clear: “I believe in Jesus, he is the victor and he loves me!” So, hold the shield of faith before you.

 

The Sword of the Holy Spirit

And finally, the sword of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit every day to fill you anew. Jesus said that He sent us the Holy Spirit to help us. Just do it! Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. When there are problems, when you are sad, when you have a hard thing in front of you, when you write an exam, when you are afraid. Anyway, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you.

Enjoy the Christmastime

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