Overcomer

God's truth provides the foundation for the rest of our spiritual armor. Paul begins with the belt of truth because Satan's major attack against believers is falsehood and deception. With three types of "truth" to discern - objective truth, relative truth, and postmodern truth - we need to put on the belt of truth by seeking the truth, speaking the truth, and living the truth.

A believer without a spiritual breastplate is leaving his heart open to the enemy's attacks. We might be tempted to start seeking victory over the evil that is so prevalent in the world around us. However, the Bible reminds us that we must begin by overcoming the evil within our own hearts. Putting on the breastplate of righteousness equips us to confront evil on the inside as well as outside.

The main function of the Roman shoe was to provide stability when soldiers engaged in hand-to-hand combat. God's peace provides the stability we need in our lives as believers when we are standing against our enemy. The hectic pace of our society and multitude of problems that come at us daily can leave us frantic with worry. But the Bible is clear that God wants us to have His peace.

Soldiers used their shields to protect their bodies from fiery arrows and to stop the fire from spreading. Satan's goal has always been to get us to doubt the integrity of God. His intentions are not necessarily to hurt us physically but to cause us to question who God is and what He has said to us. Knowing his objective, we can see why faith is so important.

God provides us with the helmet of salvation to protect our minds as we confront the enemy's attempts to confuse us. Satan recognizes that a negative thought or false idea has the potential to lead us down a spiral of destruction. We need the wisdom dispensed by God Himself, which allows us to understand God's truth and know the course of action that will please God.

As every soldier knows, it takes more than a good defense to win a fight. For this reason, the Lord has also given us an offensive weapon. The sword of the Spirit, is a mighty blade that cuts through any obstacle that may try to block our spiritual progress. It offers us a sharp and highly-honed weapon that allows us to target our enemy's vulnerability.