Years ago when I was going through a rough time my pastor told me to put on the armor of God but he had no explanation as to how. So every morning I would recite the individual pieces and I imagined putting them on. I did it because I figured my pastor knew more than I did but it never felt right. Still years later I have yet to find an explanation that made sense to me. Can you give me your interpretation of the armor and how to put it on?
Putting on the full armor of God (Ephes. 6:10-18) is a metaphor. Paul was chained to a Roman soldier during one of his periods of detention. Some scholars believe he was comparing the physical preparation a soldier takes before going into battle to the mental and spiritual preparation a believer takes before facing the unbelieving world. When you understand this, Ephes 6: 10-18 becomes a lot clearer.
The various articles of armor a soldier put on were designed to protect different parts of his body from physical harm. He would never go into battle wearing only part of His armor, because it would leave him vulnerable to attack in the unprotected areas. Our battle is a spiritual one, so I think Paul’s main point was to make sure we’re fully protected in the spiritual sense before facing the world.
To me this means we make sure to spend time in the word each day. I don’t mean just lightly skimming a few passages or mindlessly following some prepackaged daily reading plan. I mean reading and meditating on a passage of our choosing with the goal of gaining a deeper understanding of what it’s telling us.
We also pray everyday, giving thanks for the blessings we’ve received and confessing our sins as well as soliciting the Lord’s guidance and assistance for the day ahead.
With practice these things become second nature, as much a part of our day as our other routines have become.
For a more detailed interpretation of each piece of armor, read this