Equipping oneself for spiritual battle is critical to the Christian life. The goal is not to enjoy the spiritual lazy-boy chair with feet up sipping a cool drink. A battle rages on all around us. Temptations, doubts, conflicts, insecurities and a whole host of other spiritual skirmishes flood around us. The Bible refers to these collectively as a battle, whose ultimate foe is none other than Satan himself. God could easily have taken him out long ago, but because of His own superior reasons, has left him here allowing him to do battle against Christians.

But, God has not left us defenseless, for “…His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). So, using personal armor language, Paul encourages us to use what we have been given. So after the belt of truth is put on, we are to affix the “breastplate of righteousness.” A confident embracing of the truth of righteousness through faith by grace (Eph 2:8-9) is an absolute must. Without a breastplate we are unprotected from mortal wounds to the heart. We stand forgiven and accepted in Christ, and we now have His righteousness, which at the core affects everything else.

Next listed is “spiritual” footwear. Imagine entering physical battle barefoot or with sneakers! War requires solid footwear for moving forward. Being prepared to share the good news is likened to having good footwear, bringing us forward on task, on mission to reach the world (Matt 28:18-20).

Next comes the “shield of faith.” Our enemy ­­­is on the lookout for gaps in our armor. The shield of faith is impenetrable, its only weakness is in being used improperly. Satan continually attacks our faith in order to stop us in our tracks and prevent the spread of the gospel. He is a master of subtlety and nuance when it comes to derailing our trust in God. When we are strong, we begin to doubt ourselves; when we are weak we doubt God’s strength, when we are sick we question God’s ability, when we are victorious, we can feel defeated. We have opportunity to share the gospel, but we are paralyzed by fear of failure, questions, futility. Our mind begins to rationalize or question.

Let us keep sight of the mission for which we have been equipped. The objective is nothing less than the spread of the good news. Let’s use what God has given us for the battle!