Paul uses the word stand four times in the Armor of God passage in Ephesians 6: 

• Take your stand against the devil’s schemes 
• Stand your ground 
• Stand 
• Stand firm 

We can almost imagine a four-star general barking, “Stand your ground!” orders to the troops, or a coach yelling to his players on the field, “Stand firm!” 

Both the athlete and the soldier are trained in the ready stance: knees slightly bent, tight core, weight evenly divided and senses engaged and ready to move. A good military leader (or coach) utilizes practices, drills, and repetition to trains his troops (or players) to stand. 

If we are to stand as followers of Christ in the Army of God, we must know: 

1.  Who we stand AGAINST: the devil 
2.  What we stand BEHIND: the truth 

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  

When the Christian soldier suits up in her armor, the first element we put on is the belt. (In Bible times, it may have been called a girdle.) Placed around the waist, it kept everything else strapped on and accessible when needed. Just like putting on that belt, choosing to take our stand for the truth is a daily choice.

The evil one is a liar and a deceiver. He persuaded Eve to commit the first sin by persuading her to believe a lie. He has continued use that same ploy down through the ages. Has he ever whispered a lie in your ear? Perhaps something like: 

• God could never forgive you for that. 
• If your friends knew about that incident from your past, they would reject you. 
• Your ideas are brilliant –why haven’t you been tapped to lead? 
• Your husband has lost interest. 
• Your kids don’t appreciate you. 
• Prayer is a total waste of time.  
• You are a star mom, so you deserve this indulgence. 
• No one is perfect and no one will know, so just go ahead. 

Maybe it’s not those lies, but others. Make no mistake, the enemy delights in telling lies and in getting you to believe them. If he can do that, he breaks your ready stance. He distracts you from the truth. He renders you vulnerable and ineffective for battle. 

Tim Keller does a great job categorizing those lies as either a temptation or an accusation.

The evil one wants us to either think more highly of ourselves than we should, or much less of ourselves than God thinks of us.

You are His beloved child.

Christ died for you.  

We cheapen God’s grace when we see it as a license to indulge our sin … but we discount His sacrifice when we focus on that sin, rather than His atoning death on the cross.

We are both more sinful than we want to believe, and more loved than we dare hope.  

We are both more sinful than we want to believe, and more loved than we dare hope. Click To Tweet

How do we refute the lie? By saturating ourselves in the truth. Are you standing firm on the truth today? Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is yet to come. Immerse yourself in the truth today. Protect yourself from the lies of the enemy by choosing to believe what God says.  

His words are found in His Word. Read it, write it, and walk in it today.  

We must be ready to stand.

Write The Word: The Armor of God - Belt of Truth – Standard Bookmark

Write The Word: The Armor of God - Belt of Truth – Large Print Bookmark

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It’s not too late to join us in January
as we read, write, and study scriptures
on the topic of TRUTH.
Copies of the Write The Word
bookmarks and S.O.A.P. Bible study pages
are available for download today!