As a seasoned mother (I can only say that because my kiddos range from adult to still growing in my uterus – plus I’m a grandma, now), I have discovered shortcuts and made adjustments without too much thought. I’m far from perfect and absolutely do not have all the answers – not even half – when it comes to motherhood. We have three daughters, so we’re pretty confident with the hair, the clothes, the make-up, and the vast range of emotions. And we have one boy. Poor kiddo. He’s watched more princess movies than others geared for boyhood and has been completely outnumbered too many times to count. When he started kindergarten, it was the first time I was faced with finding a uniform required for a boy. No more tights or pantyhose… no more blouses or pleated skirts in the right color or pattern. Instead I found it was pretty straight forward – even easy – till I came to one item on the list: a belt. This posed a bit of a problem…
Our son is a twig. He eats and eats yet has practically zero body fat. All of the pants I purchase have the built-in, adjustable elastic, so I never had to worry about a belt… until the private school required one in their dress code. Great. At the time, we were living on the Kenai Peninsula (Alaska), which only means that shopping was limited. I searched every store in our community to find a belt that his little 5-year-old fingers could navigate and that would fit his tiny waist. I was about to completely give up when I went looking for material to simply make one myself. That’s when I found the ‘ol trusty reliable book straps. Velcro was definitely something he could manage without any problem. These were amazing for what we needed, even though they did nothing for enhancing his fashion.
When Paul mentioned the “Belt of Truth” in his letter to the Ephesians, there was nothing velcro about it. In my last post, I gave a little history of Ephesus, explaining why the citizens would be familiar with the uniforms of the Roman soldiers. If you missed the first two posts, here are the links for easier navigation: Week 1: Armored Victory and Week 2: Packed Punch. Now let’s take a look at what the Roman soldiers considered a belt:
While the designs adjusted over time, this is a pretty accurate representation of the type of belt the Roman soldier of the first century wore. Notice the width of the belt, protecting the gut (small and large intestines) and part of the kidneys. The belt of truth… Jesus told us in John 14:6, that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus is the Truth. It’s vitally important that we are protected from the lies of the enemy by knowing the Truth – His truth. If we don’t know, or don’t fully believe or trust, who we are in Jesus, the enemy’s lies will travel through our spiritual body and wreak havoc on our gut. What would normally be considered waste if we knew the Truth would, instead, be absorbed into our body. Our kidneys, tasked with removing excess fluids and waste from our body, wouldn’t be able to distinguish the lies as waste. We would be allowing ourselves to be poisoned just by swallowing a lie.
Who does God say that we are based on the Truth that comes from the sacrifice of Jesus? Does He see us as inadequate? Unworthy? Unqualified? Or does He see us as His very own workmanship (Ephesians 2:10) breathing with His very own life breath (Genesis 2:7)? The Truth also states that we are chosen (Ephesians 1:4) and children of God (Romans 8:17)? WE ARE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD THROUGH CHRIST JESUS (II Corinthians 5:21)! If we are to protect ourselves from being poisoned by the lies the devil, the evil one, we need to have the belt of Truth firmly buckled around our waist. The enemy will still try to feed us lies – to poison our intestines and force our kidneys to fail – but our gut, both small and large intestines, and kidneys will know to filter them out as waste.
The belt is not just protecting the internal areas that filter out the waste – the lies – but notice also the strips hanging down from the middle of the belt. These strips of material have been said to be made out of metal on some, and thick leather on others. The purpose was to shield the wearer’s reproductive parts. This goes back to what we believe: the Truth (Jesus), or the lies of the enemy. If we believe the lie of the enemy that tells us we’re not worthy to share God’s goodness because we have a sin-filled past, or we can’t possibly have fellowship with God because we keep messing up, or that God doesn’t hear our prayers because we ask for too much and our sins are too great – all of these lies will sterilize you from living the life God has for you.
I went through a time where I let the weight of the world get to me. I knew that I was born to do more, be more, and even experience more, but I found it so easy to believe the lies stating that I was inadequate. Things like: Why would anyone want to read what I write? How far would my children’s books really go? No one will care what I have to say since I never furthered my education. I’m just a stay at home mom – a dime-a-dozen. I know that I’m not alone in having thoughts like these – but if I never wrote a single blog post, if I never wrote about Caterpillar and his friends, if I never put more stock in God’s Word instead of a person’s opinion of my “education,” and if I never had children who were being raised to be bold in sharing about God’s grace – if I believed the lies of the enemy, then my effectiveness, my very future, would be sterilized due to fear and insecurities.
Paul knew to mention the belt first. The belt of Truth is foundational in that it helps to hold the rest of the armor in place. Some pieces and tools are even attached to it. We just need to be sure of the belt we’re strapping around our waist. Are we securing the belt of His Truth, or are we securing the world’s subjective truth to protect us from being poisoned and sterilized? Makes very little sense to put on armor that is essentially worthless. The opinions of the world, whether it’s voiced by friends, family or critics, means nothing if it contradicts the Truth – God’s Truth.
It’s interesting that in just four verses, the word “stand” is found four times (Ephesians 6:11-14). Remember from my post last week; we’re not fighting for victory, but we’re fighting from victory. The devil has already been defeated, we no longer have sin as a barrier between us and our Father, and the only thing the devil can do is whisper lies in our ears. He (the devil) is out to steal your passion, kill your joy, and destroy your effectiveness in this life – all because he doesn’t want the truth told about how God is so very good (John 10:10). And we’ve been given the armor so that we can stand against the schemes and lies of the evil one.
Just like I searched out the belt that would best suit my son, search out the belt that will provide you the protection needed to stand against the devil – discover and completely immerse yourself in THE truth so that you can stand firm against the lies and subjective truths the devil and the world tries to poison you with.