The full armor of God; the belt of Truth

During the summer, in children’s church a.k.a. “Big City Clubhouse”, we are covering the full armor of God from Ephesians 6:10-17. Over the past two weeks, we have covered the overview, focusing on the commands given to us, the enemy, and the promises that we have been given by God. It has been neat to see that we are fighting a defeated enemy. All we have to do is prepare for battle and show up and we are guaranteed victory over the enemy every single time. This coming Sunday, we are going to begin focusing on the specific pieces of armor that God has made available to us, beginning with the belt of Truth.

I. Important info about the Roman soldier’s belt

The Roman soldier’s belt was his most important piece of equipment, his most important piece of armor. Everything else, all his other weapons and supplies attached to the belt. The belt also offered balance for him when he was walking and fighting. He would have been lost without his belt. In fact, his belt was to be worn at all times during waking hours. The only thing that determined if he were on or off duty was the fact that his belt was buckled or not. If a soldier were off duty, his belt remained on, he just unbuckled it. When he went on duty, he would buckle his belt. A Roman soldier without his belt was pretty useless. Paul uses Truth as a comparison to the Roman soldier’s belt. The Truth is vital to our victory over our enemy, our sin nature that the devil tries to tempt. The question that arises is . . .

II. What is the belt of Truth?

We could spiritualize this till the end of the age and if you asked 10 different people you would probably get 10 different answers. So, instead of doing that, I propose that we open up the Word of God and see how He defines the belt of Truth.

“Sanctify them in the truth ; Your word is truth. (John 17:17)

Jesus makes it very clear, the Word of God is Truth and Truth is the Word of God. The belt of Truth that stabilizes us and from which all the other weapons flow is the Word of God, the Holy Bible. It is essential to the Christian life and without it, we are out of balance, we have no other weapons, and are an easy target for the enemy to defeat. How church goers are easy targets for the enemy because they do not carry their belt of Truth with them in their hearts and minds? The psalmist makes it very clear:

11 I keep Your Word close, in my heart, so that I won’t sin against You. (Psalm 119)

The way that we keep the belt of Truth with us at all times, so that we can be victorious in our battle over sin, is to know God’s Word in such a way that it becomes seared in our minds. Is that your way of life? Do you carry your belt with you everywhere that you go?

III. How does it balance me?

The belt of Truth (God’s Word) balances me by keeping me on track in my daily relationship with Him. Paul gives us a clear explanation of what the Word of God, the belt of Truth does for us on a daily basis in his second epistle to his disciple Timothy.

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (II Timothy 3)

As we are exposed to the Word of God, we are taught things like who God is, what we are like, what is right and what is wrong etc. and as we are taught, God begins to show us where we are wrong. The verb to reprove means to be shown where you are wrong with the purpose of getting back right. God exposes our weaknesses and faults as we are learning from His Word. Once He shows us where we are wrong, He then shows us how to get right and helps us get there. Once we are corrected, God then begins to train us day by day so that we learn to stay on the right path. If we will walk through this process with Jesus leading the way, we will notice that our lives will begin to change day by day. We will become more balanced, recognizing the enemy’s tricks and traps, and be better prepared to defend ourselves and attack back. Are you exposing yourself to this process on a daily basis by studying God’s Word? If you are not, it will be obvious because your lifestyle will be out of balance and you will not be able to defend against or attack the enemy.

IV. My part

Your question may be, “how do I do this?, what is my part, practically?”. Those are very good questions and God’s Word has an answer for us.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1)

The word delight means to find pleasure in, to enjoy. Do you enjoy the Word of God, find delight and pleasure in studying the Holy Scriptures? The righteous man finds so much pleasure in the Word of God that he meditates on It day and night. Is it possible to meditate on the Word of God day and night? Yes, especially when you understand what the word “meditate” means. The word “meditate” does not mean to chant, instead it has a three part meaning; to study, to ponder, and to talk. Is is possible to study the Word daily? Yes. Is it possible to ponder on what you studied? Yes. When you have spent your time studying and pondering on a subject then your natural reaction is to talk about what is on your mind with others. So the daily life of a righteous man is directed by the Word of God. How much time do you spend studying, pondering on, and talking about the Word of God on a daily basis?

As you can see, the list of spiritual armor begins with the Word of God. Out of it flows all of the other weapons. It is what gives us balance in life, the ability to defend ourselves and the ability to attack the enemy. Do you have it with you? Is it seared into your mind so that you can use it day by day? The key to victory is your walk with God and He teaches us how to walk with Him in His Holy Word. Get in the Word. Get the Word in you and watch what happens to your spiritual life, especially in the area of spiritual warfare. God bless.