The Armor of God: Live by Love and not by the Constitution

The Armor of God: Live by Love and not by the Constitution

Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.

Put on the armor of God so that you may be able

to stand firm against the tactics of the Devil.

~ Ephesians 6: 10-11

Regrettably in our contemporary society many of us would rather draw our strength and might from the so called self- proclaimed doctrine of “Believe in you” than accept our limitations and turn over to God for the true strength that we need to overcome the evil one. We need God, period!

The armor of God is very simple and does not cost any money nor does it require excruciating task on our part. On the contrary what is mostly required are Faith, Hope and Love, and behold we can become equipped with this great armor of God, which surpasses any power on earth.

Recognizing the fact that we are not fighting just a physical battle, but one which is spiritual in dimension and against the wicked forces in the heavenly world, rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this Dark Age is one first step to realizing the utmost need for the armor of God.

So what is this armor of God?

According to Saint Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the armor of God is found in our ability to stand for the truth, act in righteousness and proclaim the Good News of peace and at all times we must be equipped with our faith in God believing that our salvation comes from none other than the almighty, who created heaven and earth.

The physical descriptive attributes of the Armor of God is, the shield of faith, the belt of faith, the breastplate of righteousness, the sandals of readiness, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. In order to draw from the spiritual strength and might of the almighty God, we must see in these physical attributes the spiritual virtues of love, hope and faith to be able to acquire and work with the almighty God and therefore defeat the Devil.

Love as an Armor of God

The very essence of God is love! Jesus Christ died for us because of love and we are given the second chance of making heaven because of love too. It is love that enables us to be subordinate to one another and help put a smile on a stranger’s face. Love essentially makes our world go around and help us to live in peace and harmony. The absence of love is the absence of God and where God is not found, war, hatred and disunity permeates and makes lives unbearable for mankind.

The love that God is encouraging us to exercise is that which come with self-sacrifices and self-condemnation as opposed to the worldly love of personal aggrandizement and selfishness. If it does not hurt you to give, then it is not enough! Jesus Christ gave us all and we too must be ready to give our all in order to manifest the compassion, mercy and infinite goodness of God in our life as a child of God.

Hope as an Armor of God

When you live in anticipation of tomorrow that you have not yet seen, you are living with the hope of another day, and therefore you must do so patiently and with complete trust in the almighty God! A person whose hope is based on his personal attribute and devoid of dependence on God is not exercising the hope that is an example of the Armor of God.

If you are living in hope of a better tomorrow, the you must also become an instrument of a better tomorrow for other people that cross your path, otherwise you are not living based on the tenet of God’s law of love which encourages us to be compassionate to others.

Faith as an Armor of God

Our lives must revolve around the fundamental teaching that there is God, and not only that, but our God is a faithful, just and compassionate one, full of love, mercy and wisdom, understanding and knowledge and always keep his promises.

Our faith enables us to become wise in appreciating the limitations of our lives on earth and the eternity of heaven and therefore challenges us to be the instrument of God’s peace on earth. Additionally, our faith tells us that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who died for us and paves the way for eternal life for all who called upon his mighty name and proclaim that he is the Messiah and Savior of the world.

As a result of our faith in God, we are endowed with his power and might to be able to love him with all our heart and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

The opposite of faith is not simply doubt, but in the spiritual and physical realms truly death! A man without faith is just synonymous to an individual that might be likening to a dead man walking or a heart that is beating only because it is a muscle!

A child of God must be equipped with this armor of God, otherwise in the midst of temptation; he will fall like the man whose house was swept away by the torrential rain because it was built on sand, instead of on the rock.

Today’s Challenge

Irrespective of whom you are, where you live and where you originated from, irrespective of whether you are a Christian and no matter your denomination, we are challenged by our Lord Jesus Christ to live as his followers, through love, hope and faith in him as the savior of the world.

We can never stand vindicated before God on the last day simply because of our self-righteousness!  Our salvation and vindication shall come through grace and by our Lord Jesus Christ.

However, we must live by love, for love and through love; otherwise we cannot become the instrument of God’s peace on earth. As a result, we must stop living based on man-made laws and constitution that does not bring glory to God nor propagate the love of God and love of mankind. Any constitution that dehumanizes mankind must never be practiced by a child of God.

If you are living in a country where it is legal to kill, as a Christian, say no by your action and not words alone, so that through you the light of God may shine in the darkness.

If you are living in a country where it is legal not to pray in public places, reject that by your life and action and say your prayers guided by the Holy Spirit.

If you are living in a country where slavery, racism and other forms of discrimination are legal, reject such by refusing to practice these kinds of evils. The law of God is love and that is why it is superior to any constitution in the world.

We must love God above all things on earth!

We must love our neighbors as ourselves!

We must love our perceived enemies and pray for them.

We must love the “others” that are different from us!

We must love those we think are sinners, because we are sinners before God!

We must love those caught up in the choice of abortion and pray for them!

We must love those who hate immigrants and refugees and pray for them too.

We must love and pray for those who molest children and women!

We must love and pray for those who engaged in wars and killed senselessly!

We must love and pray for those who are racists and see nothing good in others!

We must love and pray for presidential aspirants all over the world irrespective of their stands.

We must love our families, friends and humanity.

Until we are willing to seek God’s intervention and help to do all these, the armor of God may still be lacking in us, and this is not God’s fault but ours, because we simply closed the door to love, and true love is none other than the almighty God!

May God bless you! @peternhelenodeh