Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ephesians 6:14-17
Everyone needs help standing every once in a while. Sometimes it’s because something came out of nowhere and caught us off guard. Other times, we knowingly walk right into it.
Like the time that Al Roker, weatherman for The Today Show, was reporting a hurricane that was hitting Atlantic City very hard. To help steady himself, Al was chained to a casino roof so, in his own words, he “could personally experience the full furry of the storm.” We can talk about Al’s mental condition at a later time.
When it comes to standing firm, we need help. We cannot stand firm on our own. To think we can is not just foolish, it goes directly against what God and said and given us. Let me speak very plainly, it’s a sin against God to think you can do it all on your own. Period.
When the winds of life blow as hard as they are right now, we can’t stand on our own. With the full armor of God, we’re given everything we need.
Truth – There is truth and falsehood, right and wrong, left and right, light and darkness. God’s view of his creation is true, all other views and ideas are false. We need to grab hold of God’s view of reality and life with both hands and hold on with all our might.
Righteousness – This is where we’re trusting that God is our defender. He will never abandon us. And he will bring us justice, paying back those who’ve hurt us. If not now, sometime. He won’t forget your pain or any of the hurt you’ve experienced. He’ll wipe away every tear[1].
Gospel of peace – The good news of Jesus reunites us with God once and for all. He reconnects all our pieces and brokenness, putting us back together, not how we were, but how we were meant to be. Not just renovated, but remade new.
Faith – When we place ourselves in God’s hands through Christ, we believe that he will keep us safe. He will never let go. He will always and in every way protect, preserve, and provide for us. He is more than worthy of our trust, our faith that cannot be moved.
Salvation – When God saves, he doesn’t play around. He doesn’t save just a little bit, or half-heartedly. No, when God saves, he goes all out and saves all the way. He saves forever. Saves with no doubts about it. He’s always on our side.
When it comes to the whole armor of God, it seems to me that we love to talk about the sword of the Spirit more than anything else. That it’s somehow better, more important than any other part of God’s armor. After all, it is the only offensive weapon in God’s armor. We like the idea of using a sword to kill the enemy. To save our family. To save our country.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all about being in God’s word. Knowing it. Letting him change me through it. I made a commitment before God to be in his word every day back in 1972. It’s the first thing I do each and every day.
But it’s no accident that the sword, the word of God, is last on the list. The enemy always, always, always attacks first. This means that the first thing we do in any spiritual warfare is to play defense.
You’ll never get to use the sword on offence if the other parts aren’t in place. And not just in place, but you know how to use them with skill. You have to practice defense first. You have to be talented with defense. If you don’t withstand the initial assault with your defense, you’ll never get to even pull your sword out. If you don’t survive the initial attack, you’ll never get to use your only offensive weapon because you’ll already be down on the ground.
So, how are you doing with putting on all the defensive parts of God’s armor? Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation don’t sound all that exciting. All that flashy. But they are the stuff that makes standing possible.
You don’t just ask God to give you these defensive pieces. The instruction is simple and clear. We are commanded to “put on the full armor of God.[2]” We have a part to play. We have to become more and more familiar with God’s truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation. And that doesn’t happen by accident, or just by itself.
We have a part to play. We have to put in the time and energy with God to become familiar with each part. We also have to practice using each defensive piece. We need to know what it can do, and what it can’t do.
Noodling Questions
Why doesn’t putting on God’s defensive armor sound all that exciting?
Is defense second-string, a lower priority than offense to you? Why?
What are you doing on a daily basis to become a better defensive player for God?
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