With the recent events around terrorism, politics, ethics and human rights, there's little room to argue that the world is in shambles—and has been for a long time, if not forever.
And then there are the personal attacks against us too, the daily struggles and temptations that drill into us day and night and distract us. All of this is alive around us and it is time to take a stand.
The armour of God
Maybe it is pretty obvious to a lot of people, but for me I always had difficulty imagining how exactly the armour of God works. People would always be like, "Make sure you put on the armour of God every morning!" and use diagrams portraying knights from the medieval ages. I was completely at a loss until I finally asked someone what it looks like to adorn it. When in doubt, just ask.
We can often ramble out the different pieces of the armour: the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit but each of these have such a significance in their own right.
Truth holds us together and keeps us from tripping; we can stand tall with a righteous heart and knowledge that the price on our head has been paid. We can stand at the ready, always prepared to spread peace to the world around, which is in as much need of it now as it ever was.
The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, is active and alive and we slay the enemy and his slandering with it, just as Jesus retaliated with scripture whilst tempted. We have the most important piece, the shield of faith in which we are protected and by which we understand that we are wearing the armour.
All aspects of the armour are truths, and by faith we can believe that we are protected from the evil one through truth, salvation, righteousness, the Word and so on. With prayer and the power granted by God, we can stand and fight against the evil forces of this world.
Spiritual warfare
Many Christian circles seem to avoid touching on matters such as demons and Satan and the depths of spiritual warfare; it is a pretty messy and dark area that can become quite destructive and traumatising if not handled right. However, we cannot avoid acknowledging that we are in a spiritual battle both as individuals and as a greater whole.
I do not need to go into depth on the inner struggles that plague us daily or the wider world ones of terrorism, fear, pain, general ungodliness and more. Warfare is active and all around us and it goes beyond the flesh, else what need would we have for the armour of God? The way I see it, the devil is doing all he can to aid, fuel, and ignite humankind's sinful nature in full rebellion against God, trying to deal as much damage as he can before his time runs out.
What does this mean for us? That we are subject to personal attacks as well as ones as a collective group of both Christians and citizens of earth.
Practicalities of war
Therefore, if we are at war—with our sinful nature and with evil spiritual forces—should we charge blindly into battle bare-backed and alone, or hide in numbers behind walls of passivity? War is strategic and not fought by a one-man army.
We charge in numbers, together with fellow believers in Christ, and not like the Crusades with destruction, but with proclamation of the gospel of peace to resist the lies and horrors of the world, to spread the love and assurance of the Word.
By our shield of faith, we can have confidence in the truth, we can trust that through God we are righteous and saved, and we can rely on the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to actively affirm this. We are not called to merely deflect the attack of the arrows, flaming with the intent of sending your spiritual life up in smoke, but to use the Bible and the Spirit within us to quash these lies and spread truth.
Sabrina Meyer is in her second year at university studying English and History with a knack for procrastination and a passion for learning. Her spare time consists majorly of reading, getting overly enthused about K-pop, and gaming.
Sabrina Meyer's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/sabrina-meyer.html