Belt of Truth
How do you dress yourself spiritually?
Verse of the Day
‘Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.’
Today’s Devotional
When you get dressed each morning, do you have a certain order of how different articles of clothing go on your body? I don’t really care if my pants go on first and then my shirt, or vice versa. But there are certain items that must be put on before my outer layers.
Spiritually speaking, we are offered a variety of items to “wear” in order for us to stand against spiritual attack. We can all assume that if we are trying to grow spiritually and are trying to live our life according to God’s will, we ARE being attacked. In the Bible, it is never stated as an “if”. So if we know that we are being attacked, we should want to protect ourselves, right?
Today’s verse comes out of a section describing the armor of God that we are offered. But if we back up a little bit, let’s look at the beginning of this section of Scripture: ‘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.’ (Ephesians 6:10-11)
Notice that before we are instructed to put on the armor of God, we are told to strengthen ourselves in God and His power. How much good would it do to put strong armor on a man lying sick in a hospital bed and send him into battle? That wouldn’t work. The same logic applies spiritually. So how do we strengthen ourselves in God first?
We spend time with Him, learning His love for us and His direction for our lives, and then we move. The following comes from enduringword.com: “God has vast reservoirs of might that can be realized as power in our Christian life. But His might does not work in me as I sit passively. His might works in me as I rely on it, and step out to do the work. I can rely on it and do no work. I can do work without relying on it. But both of these fall short. I must rely on His might and then do the work.”
After we have strengthened ourselves and are doing the work with God, it’s time to put on the armor so that we can stand firm in our faith against any attack. The very first item listed in the armor is the belt of truth. I find it fascinating how this is described. “Truth is symbolically represented as a belt which both protects our abdomen and gathers up our garments so that we can fight effectively. Strictly, the belt is not part of the armor, but before the armor can be put on, the garments underneath must be gathered together. [A soldier’s] belt was no mere adornment of the soldier, but an essential part of his equipment… it was of special use in keeping other parts in place, and in securing the proper soldierly attitude and freedom of movement.”
Whether you realize it or not, you are putting on a belt each day. That belt is made up of your beliefs which form the lens through which you see yourself and the world around you. If we do not make an active choice to put on the belt of truth, then we are likely unwittingly putting on a belt of pride, or self-pity, or selfishness, or self-reliance, or shame, or any number of ineffective beliefs. The belt of truth, however, is made up of God reigning supreme, God’s love for you, your brokenness as a sinner thus needing a Savior, God providing that Savior in the Person of Jesus Christ, and your right standing with God based on your belief in Jesus as your Savior.
Having said all of that, I am realizing that I do not start each day with that proclamation. That needs to change. Perhaps each day, as my feet hit the floor, I need to actively put on the belt of truth by proclaiming THE TRUTH, whether I feel like it or not. Because each day, I want to be able to stand with God and against anything that tries to pull me away from Him.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
When have you felt spiritually attacked?
How can you strengthen yourself in God today?
What are your thoughts about the belt of truth?
How can you express your gratitude to God for making His armor available to you?
How can you actively put on the belt of truth today?