AOG: The Belt of Truth
“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth…”
The Purpose of The Belt
First thing to note is what soldiers would actually use the belt for:
To hold the soldiers garments in place, out of the way so that they were not hindered when they needed to run and so that they could fight effectively.
To support and carry other weapons/equipments that was being carried, for example their sword.
To provide support to a soldier’s core seeing as they needed to carry so much, the belt helped them to stay upright and stable.
“The soldier might be furnished with every other part of his equipment, and yet, wanting the girdle (belt), would neither be fully accounted nor securely armed. His belt was no mere adornment of the soldier, but an essential part of His equipment it was of special use in keeping other parts in place, and in securing the proper soldierly attitude and freedom of movement.” (Salmond)
From the quote above we see that the belt is the core of the armour, without the belt nothing else is secured or kept in place, this is the reason Paul instructs us as christians to put on our belts first. And Paul associates the belt with the truth for us as believers because without truth being at our core - the very thing which holds us up and supports EVERYTHING that we do - we are lost, and will find it pretty hard to fight in any war against the enemy.
So What is The Truth?
John 14:6 says, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the TRUTH and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Here Jesus explicitly tells us that He is the truth. And so that tells me that we can try to equip ourselves with every other bit of armour but without Jesus it won’t hold. It is He that holds it all together. The Bible also tells us in Ephesians 2, that He is our cornerstone - the essential and foundational stone upon which everything else in our lives is built.
So in order to fight this battle effectively we must first start by wrapping ourselves with the Truth of who He is. And not just as in head knowledge but He must be embedded in our minds, He must be in our hearts. And that is why Jesus gave us His Word (the Bible). In Jeremiah 29:13, Jesus says, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for me with your whole heart.”. When we search for Him in prayer, through His Word that He has given us He will show Himself to us.
I think a practical way of doing this is actually taking the time out to actually study the Bible rather than just passively reading it. Personally I find for myself that there is a huge difference between when I just read the Bible and when I actually study it. When I actually look to find out what God is trying to speak through His scriptures, and write down what He is speaking to me, that’s when what I’ve read actually ends up staying in my mind.
And then not just leaving it at that but also throughout the day meditating on His promises, and learning to COMBAT certain patterns of thinking that may come to us throughout the day (that we may even just be so used to) with the truth.
For example for me personally, in the past I struggled a lot with fear. And as I began to draw closer to Jesus He showed me that a lot of my normal/everyday patterns of thinking stemmed from this place of fear. But when I began to actually meditate on God’s character, who He is, His thoughts and plans for me, when I began to know and understand and utilise the truth of His promises, fear honestly did not stand a chance.
PAUSE - see it was as I began to actually draw closer to Jesus (the Truth) that He OPENED my eyes to SEE the ways Satan had been tormenting me, and THEN I was able to use His Word to fight. The enemy doesn’t stand a chance against a Christian that knows the God whom they stand in the battle with, and when they know and USE His Word. (KEY WORD - USE - why know the Word but then not use it? We have to USE it to fight!)
Staying Ready
Another thing I wanted to add is that the belt wasn’t just worn when a soldier was in active war, or just about to go into war. Soldiers would wear their belts at all times so that they were READY for war. David Guzik mentions in his commentary that, “Putting on the belt prepared for action, it freed one for movement, and it put a soldier in a battle frame of mind.”. By feeding ourselves daily with the Word of God, with the Truth of who He is, we are girding ourselves and acting like these soldiers that wore their belt at all times - ready for any attack that might come our way (because trust me they will come our way). #stayreadysoyoudonthavetogetready!
The Bible says in 1 Peter 1:13 to, “gird up the loins of your mind.”. To gird means to prepare for action by fastening with a belt. So here again the Word is reinforcing that we are to prepare our minds with God’s truth so that we are able and ready to bring down every lie of the enemy - but how are we able to do that if we don’t know Jesus through prayer, though His Word? How are we able to fight properly if we are blinded to the truth? Think about it in battle if a soldier can’t see how will he fight effectively? That’s why as christians we need Jesus, the Truth to open our spiritual eyes so that we can fight effectively, because remember as Paul said this fight is NOT against flesh and blood but against spiritual hosts of wickedness, which can only be seen with spiritual eyes - so if were fighting with our natural eyes how do we expect to be victorious?
Shining The Truth
We also need to allow the truth that we know of God to SHOW out of our lives. If the truth is living in us, then surely the truth should show out of us. The belt that Paul is referring to here wasn’t like the small thin pieces of leather that we wear today - it was big, firm and visible, and that is how our lives need to represent the TRUTH of Christ. Our lives should be loud about the One whose side we’re on, so that others too can experience this great blessing and join the winning side too! There can’t be none of that, “my truth, your truth” business. We can’t be shy and timid about it.
I was listening to this sermon and the Pastor mentioned that “Truth is truth whether we believe it or not. It is not touched by emotion or opinion or perspective.” I just loved that and thought I needed to add it, because it’s so true especially in todays world even amongst christians we try to twist truth to fit our narrative and our desires - but that isn’t what will set us in place to fight effectively.
FREEDOM to live and to fight
The Bible says in, John 8:32 that, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” So if we know the truth, if we have come to have a revelation of Christ of who He is and are continually renewing ourselves in the truth of His Word daily we will see the fruit of that by walking in FREEDOM that comes with that truth - and this ultimately should show through the way we live and are able to fight our battles. Freedom from sin, freedom from hurt, freedom from this world.
SO, to summarise:
The Belt is the core piece of the armour, without it nothing else is able to hold together.
Jesus is The Truth, thus needs to be the foundation of our lives and armour if we want to fight effectively.
How do we get to know Jesus (the Truth)? By spending time with Him, getting to know Him for yourself and embedding His Truth in our minds and hearts.
So yeah guys, day one complete! For you guys doing the study alongside please let me know what you got from verse 14!
See you tomorrow :)
“…having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” - Ephesians 2:20