So, I have always loved the passage describing the armor of God, but have wondered what each piece means practically. Why does each piece represent the quality that it represents? Finally, I sat down and thought through it and the gained insight into each piece. I don't know if this will make sense to anyone else, but I'll try to explain the best I can...
The Belt of Truth- The belt is what holds the outfit together. Without a belt, your pants fall off and you are exposed. It is truth that holds everything else together, because if what we do and say is full of lies, then everything we stand for is a scam. The truth that God brings us through his word protects us from shame,
because it reminds us of the fact that in Christ we are no longer
sinners, but can live without shame.
The breastplate of righteousness- The breastplate protects the heart; who we are at the core. If we are living in righteousness, we are protecting the person that God created us to be. When we live in righteousness, we are living the life that God has called us to. Without a breastplate, a soldier's heart is easily pierced and the soldier dies. In the same way, without the righteousness of Christ that he gave us freely, we are condemned to die.
The shoes of the gospel of peace- Shoes allow us to walk or run without our feet being in pain. Each day that we come to, whether it is full of chaos or frustration, we can hold on the good news that Christ has redeemed us. Because of this good news, we can have peace: An incredible peace that allows us to walk through all sorts of tribulation in joy and freedom. This peace brings freedom from fear that Satan tries to instill in our hearts. These shoes of peace allow us to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Hebrews 12:1)
The helmet of Salvation- Satan loves to attack our minds, causing us to doubt the truth of God's salvation. Am I really saved? Is God really real? Does Christ's salvation really apply to me? Assurance of the salvation of God, and reminding ourselves over and over again of this wonderful truth is the best way we can protect ourselves from doubting God and His goodness towards us. When we doubt, we begin to enslave ourselves, either to try to gain salvation by works, or to give up and relent to sin in our lives. It is important for us to guard our minds with the knowledge of God's salvation.
The shield of faith- It is when we stop trusting in God and his promises that the devil has a foothold in our lives and can strike us with his lies, with his deception, and his destruction. It is only through faith in God that we can have life and freedom. It is our faith that frees us from the devil's schemes that lead to death.
The sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God- It is through God's word that we can overcome the devil. This is our one offensive piece of armor. Every other piece is to protect us. The word of God and His Spirit is what we can use to fight and destroy the devil's schemes. The Spirit gives us wisdom to understand God's word and use it to speak into our hearts and the hearts of others, so that the devil's lies will not take hold of our lives. As Christ fought off temptation with the word of God, so we also can use God's word to fight off every doubt, every deception, every temptation that the devil tries to use to win us over and enslave us to him.
