Ephesians 6:13-17 – Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breast plate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, 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.
“so that…you may be able to stand your ground”
Giving up ground should not be an option. Why? In battle the worst thing that can happen is to give up ground to the enemy. Especially ground gained for us by Jesus. When Jesus sacrificed his life on the cross so that his blood could make us white as snow; he gained ground for all of us who accept him as our Lord and Savior. The cost to gain that ground was great. We have got to stand our ground so that we don’t give up what we gained through our relationship with Jesus.
Verse 14 – “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth around your waist…”
To the Roman soldier the belt was key, the belt was the center piece to the armor he wore in battle. The belt holds it all together. What is our belt? Our belt is knowing and living in “truth”. First, we must know the truth, we must know the truth as it pertains to God’s Word. Second we must live truthfully and honestly, we must be honest with God, ourselves and others.
Knowing and living in truth is so important because one of the Satan’s most important tools is deception. The first example of deception in the Bible is in Genesis when he deceives Eve. He offers lies and the counter is the belt of truth.
How have you been deceived? Do you live any false truths? Has Satan gotten you to believe something that is not quite right, close…but not right about your relationship with Jesus?
How have you been less than honest? Have you blamed others for you sin, or justified sin because of how others have treated or sinned against you?
Lord I pray that you would reveal to us those areas where we have been deceived, where we haven’t been honest with You, ourselves or others. Lord help us to come clean in these areas so that we can be firmly planted in Your truth, that we can be completely honest and truthful with You, ourselves and others at all time. Lord help us to put on the belt of truth daily and live it. In Jesus name. Amen!
God Bless!