One of the Bible verses that I’ve been studying lately is Ephesians 6:10-20 which speaks on putting on the whole armor of God.

Normally, when one thinks of a battle or a war, they often think of the weapons they will use for fighting that war. Just look at the military: every soldier is equipped with guns, ammunition, bombs, and protective gear.

Wars are often fought with a series of offense weapons. The more offense tactics you have, the better your chances of winning the battle. But in Ephesians, Paul speaks about a different strategy: defense.

When reading the entire passage, I noticed that God only arms us with one offense weapon, and the rest are defense gear.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Ephesians 6:10-20NKJV

Verses 10 to 13, Paul explains that our strength comes from God: His Power and His might. He goes into asking us to put on the whole armor of God and then having done that, we should only stand.

Even though Paul says that we ‘wrestle’ against principalities and powers, this ‘wrestling’ that he speaks of is to simply stand. And then, from verses 14 to 17, he gives us the armory.

We gird our waists with the truth.

There’s a saying that goes ‘caught with your pants down’ which often refers to having a secret being revealed in the most untimely and embarrassing way.

In our spiritual battle, God urges us to always live honestly so that we will never have our ‘pants caught down’. This strategy is one that the enemy uses to trip us up. In other words, our waist must be girded or secured with truth.

We put on the breastplate of righteousness.

In Proverbs, we learn ‘whatever a man thinks in his heart so is he’ and in Luke, we learn ‘A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.’

God urges us to protect our hearts with righteous thoughts and actions. God looks at the heart, and it is out of our hearts that we become either good or evil. The heart is the most sensitive organ in the body: it is the organ that pumps the blood that keeps us alive.

If our hearts go unprotected, wounds inflicted there can be fatal. It’s the same with the spiritual heart, when we do evil out of our hearts, it gives the enemy a chance to inflict fatal wounds. This is the reason why we protect our hearts with the breastplate of righteousness.

Have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

In the military, it’s so important that the soldiers wear shoes that are well-fitted and comfortable since they will be on their feet during battle.

We need to be able to walk comfortably through life, spreading peace, and living in peace wherever we go. The bible urges us ‘as much as possible to live in peace with all men’. So, having our feet protected with peace is so important.

The shield of faith

Take with you the shield of faith, so that you may quench the fiery darts of the wicked one. When trials come our way, it is easy to waver in faith, and thus a shield is so necessary. The shield is ‘moveable’ meaning that no matter which direction these tests of faith come from, we can easily quench it.

Take the helmet of salvation.

The head is another area in which wounds can be fatal if inflicted there. The helmet of salvation refers to our knowledge that we are saved by grace. Oftentimes, when trials come our way, we sometimes question if we are really saved, but the helmet of salvation protects our head, giving us the comfort in knowing that we are saved.

Another thing to this point too is that Christ is the ‘head’ of the church which is us. So, it also goes hand-in-hand with the helmet of salvation.

The sword of the Spirit

Now, this is the only offense weapon in our armory. The sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

Then, Paul goes on to explain what this is. The words that we speak are the ultimate power that we have. It is the power of God.

Paul continues the rest of this passage by encouraging us to not only stay in prayer but to speak boldly as we ought to speak. God wants us to use our words to impart positive energy into this world, in our lives, and in the lives of others. We are instructed to speak and command our situation and not be overcome by it.

Words are energy (I’ll do another post on this) and by speaking and praying we’re making the changes we need in our lives.

Conclusion

Once we know that we have the armor of God on: we’re truthful, living right, walking in peace, holding onto faith, and we are saved we have nothing else to do but to stand and speak.

I hope that this serves as some encouragement to you or anyone that’s going through some trials right now. This particular scripture passage has been among one of my favorites, and I’m glad I’m able to share my take on it.

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