Armoured Up

Ephesians 6:14-18 speaks of wearing the armour of God on a daily basis to protect us from the evil one who is out to destroy.  This may be a continuing thread, I haven't made it through all the verses today, but want to share my thoughts on the first 2 pieces of armour we are encouraged to put on every day.

"Tighten the belt of truth securely around yourself"
It's not easy to always speak the truth. When under attack or duress, sometimes it is easier to let the truth slip or go to "make peace", but that is the peace of the world, not the peace of Christ. This has been my battle, to cling to the truth despite advice to the contrary, despite attack and manipulation to consider truth to be of less importance than another's feelings and/or societal expectations. When I waver, God reminds me of the truth & I tighten that belt again... except then I feel guilty for standing firm, which is Satan's tool to keep me trapped and weakened. Hmmmm.....

Another thought is that often we are tempted to temper the truth with a lie to soften the consequence, soften the truth to avoid hurting people.... We are not called to avoid hurting others, we are called to live in the truth. Not to go out and use the truth to beat others up, but not to dismiss the truth in order to "protect" them either. Jesus never once refrained from speaking the truth to save a persons feelings, He spoke out of love, He spoke out of mercy, but He always spoke Truth. He made enemies because of it, He died because of it, but He NEVER compromised the truth.

"Cover your chest with the breastplate of Christ's Invincible Righteousness"
Invincible. Bullet proof. Unbeatable. Impenetrable... Nothing can get through Christ's Righteousness. No accusation, no injury, no flaming arrow, no Teflon bullets. Nothing. Nada. I can walk into battle without fear if I have put on this Breastplate. Christ has given this breastplate to me. To protect my heart, my lungs, my ability to breathe and beat blood through my body. I have been suffering anxiety attacks... if I am wearing His Breastplate, He protects this valuable area, freeing me! His Righteousness is His perfection, His Character... He covers my character with His Character - with Who He Is. I cannot be seen, my imperfections are invisible once I put on His Breastplate.

I need to make a point of wearing His armour every morning. We are in a battle. Everything that happens around us is part of a cosmic battle between good and evil, we see it in TV shows, movies, books.... Everything has a hero and a villain. So does our lives, our existence. The Hero is Jesus, the villain is Satan. We get to chose the side we fight on, but make no mistake, it IS a battle.

Will you join me in wearing this armour?