Armor of God: Belt of Truth

Continued from here.

The first piece of armor is the belt of truth:

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…” ~ Eph. 6:14a

It’s not coincidence that putting on the belt of truth is your starting point because without truth, you will be too disoriented to fight. Because Satan is a defeated foe, the only “weapon” he has at his disposal against a child of God is deception. He has been deceiving people since the beginning of time, and he is very good at his job. Despite being freed from sin through Jesus, Christians remain vulnerable to deception. Thus, we need to put on the belt of truth to enable us to know what is true.

Truth comes from the Bible: God’s Word is truth. Everything else is a lie. If the Bible says one thing and the culture says another, the culture is deceiving you. Even your own experiences can deceive you, which was my greatest challenge for many years. To put on the belt of truth, you need to read and study the Bible, which is why doing so is a necessary fundamental practice for all believers.

Think of the Bible as your compass pointing you Due North to God and life. What you see around you might deceive you into believing you are going the wrong way. The terrain ahead might look treacherous whereas a different direction looks appealing. You cannot base your decisions upon what you see, where you have been, what anyone else is doing, or what political correctness dictates. When you put on the belt of truth, you make the decision to let God be the judge of what leads to life or death.

The fruit Eve ate looked appealing to her, but it led to spiritual death, separating her from God. She chose to make her own judgment rather than follow the compass God had given her. God told her that fruit would lead to death, but she was deceived into making her own judgment and paid a heavy price. Don’t let that happen to you. Let God’s Word define what leads to life versus death and follow it, no matter what anyone else thinks about your choices. This is how you wear the belt of truth.

Continued here.

[Graphic: Cartoon of Grace dressed like the X-Files, holding a flashlight under the words, “The truth is out there.” Courtesy Bitmoji.]