Spiritual Armor: The Belt of Truth
Serious question: Do you avoid things like sincerity, transparency and honest vulnerability? If so, you might be diminishing your spiritual authority in warfare.
—“having fastened the belt of truth” (Ephesians 6:14a).
The belt of the Roman soldier was not simply to hold up his skinny jeans; it was the piece of equipment that held that larger armor pieces in place. The soldier’s belt made every other piece of armor effective.
When we hear the armor of God taught we often hear the belt of truth ascribed to the Bible—the more we know of God’s word, the more secure we are in warfare. No doubt there is truth to that; I would never want to diminish one’s pursuit of knowledge of scripture. But what if the belt of truth also has to do with our relationship to truth in a broader sense?
Serious question: Do you avoid things like sincerity, transparency and honest vulnerability? If so, you might be diminishing your spiritual authority in warfare.
God desires truth in our inward parts.
When we look at our relationship to truth in a broader sense we may find that we are not as equipped for warfare as we think.
It’s likely that most of the half-truths we have told in our lives have been our answers to the question, How are you? I have come to believe that insincerity, lack of transparency (with the God-ordained people in our lives) actually serve to diminish our stance against the evil one; it makes us vulnerable in spiritual warfare. Conversely, when we bear our hearts with others in honest transparency (especially in weakness), we gird ourselves with the belt of truth and every other piece of spiritual armor becomes effective.
Watch this video on fastening the belt of truth and 3 ways we overcome in spiritual battle by bearing our heart in honest transparency. Then read the takeaways below.
1. We receive GRACE from God! The Bible says that God gives more grace—He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (Jas.4:6). The practice of sharing weakness with others is an act of humility. God always blesses humility. Even when we share with people who don’t have capacity to practically help us, God releases grace!
2. We make ourselves a target for other people’s MINISTRY. When we share weakness with others it activates the gift of God in them—God moves through their ministry in response to our humility and brokenness and we find ourselves strengthened, encouraged and comforted.
3. We step into TEAM. The Bible tells us that two are better than one and a cord of three is not easily broken (Eccl. 4:12). Supernatural power is released when believers team together in spiritual battle.
