As Christians, we don’t fight against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers. We wrestle with our flesh, but also against external powers that lure us into discouragement, fear, guilt, unbelief, rebellion against God, and so on. The Bible (Ephesians 6:10-18) teaches us that to stand firm against these powers, we need to wear the whole armor of God. But what is this armor exactly? How do we wear it and how does it help us to conquer these spiritual battles? In this series, I will give you an in-depth, step-by-step explanation with examples from my own struggles.
God gives you what you need
Before we dive into that, it is important to realize that God would never put us in a challenging situation without giving us the means to escape and endure it, and He will never give us more than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). These challenges, our struggles, are necessary for us to grow, to be sanctified. It is by learning how to respond to these challenges the right way, that we learn how to be like Jesus in our daily lives. They help us to put what we have learned from the Bible into practice.
So, whatever the enemy might throw at us with the intention to harm us, God intends it for good. And God will not send us into battle without providing sufficient equipment first.
The Christian life is like a constant war against evil, in which we are God’s soldiers, fighting the good fight for His Kingdom. For the battle, God gives us the means to protect ourselves. He gives us pieces of armor that don’t belong to this world, but to Him. It’s a spiritual armor, perfect for fighting these spiritual forces.
Never let your guard down
Our job is to make sure we actually use what He gave us and go up to the frontline. And not just with one piece of armor; all of it. Wearing it always. Because the enemy is sneaky: he likes to attack when you don’t see him coming, or when and where you are most vulnerable.
And when I say that we are spiritually at war, I really mean war. We are not talking about some weak, pathetic attempt to bully you and then carry on with what you are doing. No, I’m talking about a life-or-death kind of battle. Eternal life or eternal death, that is.
There is a war for your soul going on, and the army of the enemy is stronger than any human on his own, extremely experienced, and on top of that, invisible to the human eye. So, not only is your eternal life at stake here, no person on earth can take on this battle without God’s help. That is why we need this armor desperately, to survive the battle until we are done fighting and God takes us home to rest in His presence.
So now that we have been reminded of the importance of wearing the full armor, let’s take a look at all the elements of it and how they serve to protect us:
