What is the Armor of God?

Part 1

The phrase “put on the armor of God” has always seemed odd to me. How do I put these things on? Truth, righteousness, readiness and peace, faith, salvation, and spirit. These don’t exactly go on in the same way a sundress or a bra do. 

But, when we look at this scripture passage as a habit building to-do list instead, I think we start to see what Paul means. 

First, let’s read the scripture together. In Ephesians, chapter 6, we see a section entitled “Christian Warfare” in CSB, which sounds pretty intense compared to the “Armor of God” title NIV has.

Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation 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. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. Ephesians 6:10-18 CSB

So, let’s hop into this!

Belt of Truth

The habit that we’re picking up here is questioning where this truth comes from. Are the facts that I am intaking from my co-worker, aunt, friend, social media, etc. the world or God’s Word? 

As women, we are told constantly how we are supposed to be. The world tells us how we should look physically: thinner and prettier. That we should be boss babes, who rule in the corporate environment with no thought of family or home. That we need to show skin to be considered attractive. I could go on. Just walk through the magazine section meant for teen girls, and we’ll see how scary different the world’s “truth” is from our scriptural truth from God.

It’s hard to make it through an entire day without someone critiquing something about us, right? Whether it’s a facebook post berating political affiliations, or other people who feel they know what’s best for us, it’s everywhere.

When I first became a mom, everyone knew how to raise my child better than me. I say that both literally and figuratively. I was still learning, but everyone’s passing opinions were thrown at me like demands. “Put socks on that baby!” “You shouldn’t burp him like that.” “Stop being such a stickler for schedules, make him join your life.”

But, at the end of the day, whose opinion matters most? 

God tells us how to be, how to interact, not just as women but as christians.

When we put on the belt of truth, we are choosing daily to focus on the truths given to us by our Father, rather than the truths given to us by scrolling through social media, or by the opinionated people in our lives.

Now, a slight tangent, but just because it’s someone’s opinion, doesn’t mean it’s wrong from the start. The point of the belt of truth is to learn how to discern what aligns with God’s Word and what doesn’t. 

If I were to tell you that it’s our job as women to run our household and that our husbands should submit to what we decide is best for the family, I hope everyone would take a moment to pull me aside. This DOES NOT align with scripture, and by “wearing the belt of truth” and spending the time in prayer and God’s Word, we KNOW that this isn’t right. And that’s the goal of this new habit!

By putting on the belt of truth, we can pray for the opportunity to reject the lies that are fed to us as truth, because we can KNOW the actual Truth. John 14:6 says, “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’" The Truth offered to us by the only Being that could know it: God.

Breastplate of Righteousness

The habit that comes from the breastplate of righteousness is the constant need to know what is right? It helps us do the right thing, being holy (set apart) because we do the best we can to avoid doing the wrong thing.

From a young age, we are taught right from wrong. Stealing is wrong. Being honest is right. Being mean is wrong. Even my three year old, as much as he tests boundaries, knows right from wrong. 

Recently DeeDee, the wonderful bonus aunt that she is, got my toddler a bow and arrow set. Her rule was that it was an “outside toy.” He started to play with it inside and then immediately stopped and recited “Outside Toy!” and put it away. He knew, by playing with it inside, he was making the wrong decision.

As adults, we feel this ten-fold, right? There are so many rules. Laws, rules within the workplace. Unspoken rules like social cues and the ones that we figure out as we get to know people. 

Just like the belt of truth, when we make it a habit of spending time with God in prayer and His Word, we start to know what is right and wrong by Him in such a fundamental way that we can also yell “Outside Toy!!” and turn away from the wrong thing and back to what God actually intends us to do in the moment.

By putting on the breastplate of righteousness, we’re praying for the opportunity to seek out the right and good ways to do things. Jesus is referred to as the Righteous One in Acts 7:52. By molding our lives after Jesus, we are trying to imitate the righteousness we can only have through Him! This looks like interacting with people in a way that is right and loving. Letting our actions show the goodness of God!

Sandals of Readiness

Have you ever seen a track race? Ready, set, go! When that gun goes off, they all take off. No one is left sitting there, thinking “I’ll go in a minute” because they were ready. Just as we are called to be.

There are several ways we need to be ready during the day.

We can be ready for the next day by ensuring that there is already gas in the tank. We can be ready for potential problems by looking both ways before we cross the street. It helps to be alert and prepared. It helps to be ready!

There are a million ways we can work to be prepared and ready. If you’re a planner like our wonderful DeeDee, you probably have a plan for every moment of the day. 

But in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 1 Peter 3:15 CSB

In the same way that we can be ready for things in our daily life, we need to be ready for things in our spiritual life. Whether it be memorizing scripture to combat negative thoughts, or preparing a way to share the gospel for when the opportunity arises. We cannot expect to be prepared without doing the work it takes to get there, the same way the track star isn’t going to win if they haven’t trained for the race. 

The biggest way is prayer, praying to start the day, to ask for readiness and to be equipped for glorifying God all day long. Jesus was always prepared for opportunities to share the Good News because He was constantly praying and aligning himself to God’s will. Praying for God’s wisdom. And we can also pray for that! “Dear Lord, please equip me to be ready and alert for opportunities to glorify You and love others today. Please give me the wisdom to stay aligned to your will.” 

We are only able to equip truth, righteousness, and readiness because God allows us access to these things. These are not things that we can or should take for granted. These are also not things that we can just assume we have full access to without a little work. Pray! Spend time in God’s Word. It’s the only way to fully make a defense in spiritual warfare.