Have you seen a soldier who is ready for battle? Maybe not real time but definitely in movies right? They will be dressed in a special outfit – a uniform with a belt on their waist, helmet on their head, a bulletproof shield held in their hand, a bullet proof vest, shoes or boots on their feet and weapons like gun to fight. Back in the olden days too, soldiers who went for battle wore a special outfit. It is called the “Armor” and had almost similar components as a modern day battle outfit.
An Armor consists of a belt, a breastplate, a helmet, a pair of shoes, a shield and weapons – mainly a sword. Why do soldiers wear this special outfit – the armor, for battle? Battle is not a time of leisure. A soldier would be completely focused on fighting putting his life at stake. There are big chances that the weapon of the enemy could injure his body and major internal organs. So the armor is worn to shield / protect their body from the weapons of enemy. All components of the armor except weapon are for shielding and protecting while weapon is the only component used to fight back.
The bible also talks about an armor – The Armor of God. What is this all about? Let us open the treasure book to learn more about it.
OPENING THE TREASURE BOOK 
Clue 1: Ephesians 6:10-13
The Battle
The Word of God says, we have to put on the complete armor of God. We now know that an armor is worn only during battles. So this means we are in a battle. So we should be wearing an armor to protect ourselves from being hurt. Being in a battle means there is an enemy to fight.
Our enemy
The word of God says “put on the whole armor of God to stand against the tricks of the devil”. Also it is written, our fight is not against flesh and blood – meaning other humans. So the enemy in this battle are not people but the devil and dark evil powers – domains, powers and rulers of darkness. The devil and his gang of evil spirits are our enemy and we know they are not in flesh but spirit. So the battle is not physical but in the spiritual realm.
The battleground
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Corinthians 4:4
Both these verses states that the devil tries to corrupt and blind our minds from the actual truth. So our enemy – the serpent / the god of this world / the devil tries to manipulate our minds. That is where he tries to play his tricks. So our mind is the battlefield!!
Now we know that we are in a battle, we know where the battle takes place and who our enemy is!!!
So how do we get prepared for the battle and fight our enemy?
Clue 2: Ephesians 6:14-17
Like in a physical battle where soldiers wear the armor to protect themselves from the weapons of the enemy, in this spiritual battle against the devil, we too should wear an armor –The Armor of God, to protect ourselves from his weapons!
The armor of God also consists of shielding components – Belt, Breastplate, Shoes, Shield, Helmet and a weapon to fight – the Sword
The Belt of Truth
We normally use a belt to gird our loose pants tight onto our waist so that we can walk confidently without being afraid that our pants would come down. Imagine yourself in a battle and your belt isn’t proper. Would you be able to focus completely on the battle or will you be partly bothered about the pants coming down? Definitely the pants will bother you and this could take your life!!! In the armor of God, our belt is “TRUTH”. We should always speak the truth and be truthful to God, ourselves and others. If we are truthful in everything then we can walk confidently and we will be able to rightly focus on our battle without giving the devil a loophole to pull us down!!
Breastplate of righteousness
A breastplate is worn to guard the chest area, specially the heart. In the armor of God, our breastplate is “RIGHTEOUSNESS“. Righteousness means “right standing with GOD” or being right with God. Sin separates us from God but we are made righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. When we believe in Jesus, his blood makes us right before God. This is our breast plate that will guard our heart from the weapons of the enemy.
The shoes of gospel of peace
We wear shoes to protect our feet from sharp and hard objects that lie in our path. In the armor of God, “PEACE” is the shoes that we should wear to guard our walk. Always walk in peace and be peacemakers. Let the peace of God rule our hearts and minds. Worry is one object that the devil places in our path to hurt our feet, but if the peace of God rules our mind, it guards us from getting hurt.
Shield of faith
A shield protects us from the flaming arrows and other weapons of the enemy. In the armor of God, our shield is “FAITH”. When the enemy sends flaming arrows to attack our mind, we should use faith to shield our mind. The enemy might send arrows of disbelief, doubt, despair, depression, fear, loneliness, un-forgiveness, lust, etc., and we should shield it from entering our minds and hearts by proclaiming our faith.
Helmet of salvation
A Helmet is used to guard our head in battle. If head is not protected, we will definitely lose our life in the battle!!! In the armor of God “SALVATION” is our helmet. Salvation protects our head. Without salvation you will lose your life – the eternal life. If you have not known Jesus as your savior, invite him to your heart today. To be saved, confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead. Put on the helmet of salvation and secure your eternal life!!!
Sword – The Word of God
In the Armor, the weapon to fight is the sword and in the armor of God, the sword is WORD OF GOD.
We know that our mind is the battle ground and this is where the enemy attacks. The enemy sends his flaming arrows of all kinds of negativity to our mind. When we use our shield (Faith) we protect our mind from these arrows. It will definitely protect us from getting injured, but it doesn’t stop the enemy from fighting us. As we see in all fights, an enemy will stop fighting only if we get stronger and he gets weaker. How does that happen? We should fight back then he will slowly lose his strength. We fight back with our weapon, the WORD OF GOD… Fight all negative thoughts the devil is trying to plant in our hearts, with the word of God.. Declare the word of God in all areas of his attack and keep on declaring!!! The word of God says that the enemy will eventually flee – Resist the devil and he will flee from you!!!
In Luke chapter 4 we see, Jesus when tempted by the devil fought back with the Word of God and the devil left him. Jesus took victory over the devil by fighting back with Word of God!
Treasures uncovered
We are in a constant battle and hence we should be always alert! The battleground is our mind and the devil is our enemy .
Put on the full ARMOR of GOD –
Protect yourselves from the weapons of the enemy by wearing the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Shoes of Peace, the Shield of Faith and the Helmet of Salvation.
Fight the enemy with Word of God and he will flee from us.
We have to put on the full armor of God to protect ourselves. If any element of protection is missing we can get hurt. So wearing all the components of armor is vital for our existence. Also fight your battle with the Word of God and victory is guaranteed!!!
Prayer:
Father, Thank you for making us aware about the armor of God. Lord Jesus, we thank you for the helmet of salvation that secures our eternal life. We also thank you for making us righteous. Thank you for the Word you have given us to fight the enemy. Thank you for making us victorious, in Jesus name, Amen!!!
Bible lessons 4 young Christians 
3 thoughts on “The Armor of GOD”