Armor – Belt of Truth
Ephesians 6:10-17
“A final word: be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. STAND YOUR GROUND, putting on the BELT OF TRUTH, and the body armor of God’s RIGHTEOUSNESS. For shoes, PUT ON PEACE that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the SHIELD OF FAITH to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on SALVATION AS YOUR HELMET, and take the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, which is the word of God”
We are warned in the scriptures that we are involved in “direct conflict” with the devil, that he is wily and cunning and we are to equip ourselves from the onslaught of mental, spiritual or physical casualty!! There is a military metaphor described here that is intended to show us that we are engaged in an ACTIVE BATTLE!
Let’s take a look at this First century metaphor of the Armor (battle dress) piece by piece…..The FIRST piece of Armor is “guirding up your loins” or in some translations “belt of truth”. This is a reference to back in the apostle Paul’s days to loose clothing the soldiers would wear. In order to do any active movement the Roman soldiers would have to gather up their loose clothing and fasten it around their loins (pelvis and lower back area), tuck it into their belts so they were free to MOVE …..spiritually speaking “the girdle of TRUTH or belt of TRUTH” is defined in the Strong’s as “speaking the truth, as NOT CONCEALING”. This is telling us BE REAL, tell it like it is, call a spade a spade, call a lie a lie, call lust lust, and hatred hatred…BE TRUTHFUL WITH YOURSELF! (this is about YOU, not your neighbor or loved one! This is you taking inventory of yourself) There is no in between on this! There is no “GREY” area on this! If you’ve had a past of not telling the truth, shading the truth, avoiding the truth, then it’s time to repent and make a change for TRUTH! This is the FIRST and foundational in the Armor of God!! Unless we Gird (secure) ourselves with the truth, every time we try to move forward we will trip over ourselves!! So the first piece of protective armor is the griddle of truth !!! Let that be a quality that people recognize about you! Secure yourself and get moving!!!
