⁸But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

Why are faith, love, and hope so essential in preparing for the Lord’s return? Note it well, that our preparation is simply to live our Christian life in faith, love, and hope. Anticipating His return motivates us to live in faith, love, and hope. But shouldn’t we be motivated simply by the internal working of the Holy Spirit in our lives? The fleshly mind would turn it into a Christian sort of law—that we “should” believe, love, and hope, because this is required of us. Is that what this is about?

We can’t miss the dynamic here. The only way we can live the “normal” Christian life and grow in our faith, love, and hope is by keeping before us the light of the knowledge that Christ is returning. If we are the “sons of light and sons of day” and we live in this truth, then the normal Christian life will be a reality because of what we are anticipating. But we must keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). To continue in our Christian growth, we need to put on and keep putting on the armor of God. Paul knows no other way. Such “normal” Christian living prepares us for the Lord’s return; that is what will keep us from being surprised when we see Him at His coming. His return will seem as normal as our living by faith, love, and hope. If in fact, living that way is normal now!

Faith is like a breastplate, protecting the vitals, the internal organs like the heart. Believing what God has said is an essential ongoing activity of our spirits. How can we live as Christians if we doubt His Word? We may ask questions of the meaning of His Word, but it is our belief in His Word that protects our Christian life at the very basic level.

Love, also, is like a breastplate in protecting the vitals. Paul extols love in 1 Corinthians 13, for without it we are absolutely nothing. Love is the activity of faith; it is our belief put to action. We must act on our faith through love, or we are like the Ephesians who lost their first love (Rev. 2:4). We must prevail in the struggles of the Christian life against selfishness, pleasure, materialism, and pride. The antidote is intentional acts of love that give no place for the weeds of sin to take root in our souls.

Hope is the anticipation of our love; this affects how we think about things. We long to see the One who loves us! While we do not want to overstretch the metaphor, we recognize that what we think about our future affects our decisions today. And hope in Christ focuses on His return to take us to be with Him. The endgame, the final chapter, is what keeps us going.

Lord, I want to practice faith, love, and hope like a soldier putting on his armor.