How to Put on the armor of God (What Each Piece Means)

When we decide to follow the Lord or align our life with the goodness and love of God it is normal that we will face many temptations, doubts, and even possibly setbacks in the process of growing towards God.

This is because the world is filled with a lot of stuff that is not aligned with God and what he wants. It’s also the case that our own hearts and minds can still have a tendency to grasp for pleasures, selfish needs, and other things that lead us away from God. 

Even if people aren’t aware of it, they can be creating and doing things that create harm and kill God’s love in the world.

If we want to really walk with God in a more consistent manner in our lives we will need tools and strategies for overcoming and working through temptations and habits that lead us away from God and into darkness. One of those tools that is discussed in the bible is the armor of God.

In this article, I’m going to dive into the armor of God and how we can use it to protect ourselves from falling into evil and darkness while living and participating in this beautiful world that God has created.

First Things First

Before getting into the armor of God in detail and the scripture that goes along with it I want to start by saying that even the devil can use the armor of God and the concept of spiritual warfare to take people away from God’s love and into a fixation on seeing everything as a battle and seeing the world as a horrible place.

Personally, I don’t think this is healthy or what God wants us to do. 

Sometimes I find that people who are too fixated on spiritual warfare start to see everything as evil including people around them and the world at large. We need to remember that it is not the person who is evil or the world in general (God made everyone in His image and the world a beautiful place) but the evil spirits and false beliefs that are controlling the people to act in a way that is misguided. Whatever we start to feed our mind constantly impacts the way we view the world and other people and I think it’s important to not give the darkness or evil too much space in our mind.

Yes, I think we have to acknowledge that evil exists in the world and that spiritual warfare is something that occurs when we are walking in God’s love in places where there is hatred towards it. Yes, I believe that we should stay aware and strong in our faith in the love of God in situations where there is clearly darkness and temptation occurring. I just don’t think it’s something that should take us away from seeing the beauty and goodness in everything and everyone around us.

I really believe that when we are living in the Kingdom of Heaven our view of the world is one of awe, beauty, goodness, hope, love, and joy. And that when we experience situations of darkness that out of love we can decide not to participate or to bring love into the people and situations that we encounter where there is evil occurring so they can change.

So in summary, I believe like Jesus said and experienced on the cross that spiritual warfare and evil are real and something we will experience in the world if we are truly walking in His love. But I also believe that we shouldn’t fixate on it and that when we are living in the Kingdom of Heaven and grateful for God’s love we naturally see the goodness and beauty of God’s creation more so instead of the darkness. 

The Armor of God

The foundation of the armor of God comes from Ephesians 6:10-20:

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

The armor of God talks about a few key things:

1. How to stay strong in the Lord and your faith against evil attacks
2. The devil has schemes and deceptions that he uses
3. It is not about flesh and blood (or people) but against spiritual forces of darkness
4. There are different pieces of armor or spiritual strategies that fight these forces
5. Praying in the spirit for ourselves and others works to help defeat these forces

Why the Armor of God Matters

The armor of God matters simply because we will all come up against temptations, situations, fears, and other things in the world that will try to pull us away from God’s love.

It helps us to have some tools and strategies to actively work against these false and evil spirits that are trying to control us and take us away from the truth of God’s love shown in Jesus Christ.

When we come up against these challenging moments and situations, if we have a strong foundation of faith tools in our mind we will be able to navigate through them and connect with the Lord to help us overcome their allure and deception.

Breaking Down The Pieces of the Armor of God

Let’s go through each piece of the armor of God and determine when and how we can best use it.

Belt of Truth

Satan fights with lies that are often twisted versions of truth which are very deceptive, sneaky, and enticing to believe. They often have a quality that is alluring or tempting to receive something that is easy, self centered, and quick without any foundation or enduring truth to them. 

The belt of truth is a spiritual symbol that helps us to remember the truth of God and Jesus including His spirit that we have experienced, His love, what he has done for us in our lives, and how he stays the same yesterday, today, and forever.

We need to seal our armor with the belt of truth meaning the truth shown in Jesus Christ and His love for us. When we are sealed with the truth of Christ, knowing that we are loved by God, that God has good plans and purpose for us, that God is for us and is helping us, and that we are who God says we are, then all the lies of Satan will fall away when they try to infiltrate our foundation of truth.

We must seal everything with a foundation in the truth of God’s love shown through Jesus Christ.

How to Apply it:

• When we find ourselves in temptation, doubt, fear, uncertainty, or being attacked we can remind ourselves to go back to the foundational truths of God’s character shown in scripture and in the life of Jesus Christ for us
• We can pray with scripture that speaks to the truth about something that is related to the lies we are being hit with over and over again
• We can memorize or write down a few bible verses that are directly related to some lies or temptations we are struggling with

Breastplate of Righteousness

Righteousness is related to being right with God in our hearts. The heart is the seat of our emotions, self worth, trust, desires, and even our speech. Most things come out of the foundation of our heart. And the breastplate of righteousness is something that protects our hearts from attacks that get it away from being right with God.

When our heart hardens or we are wounded in the heart it often changes our desires, speech towards others, willingness to receive God, and our integrity.

When our heart is soft and in right alignment with God it enables us to love others, love God, and to allow the spirit to work through us in our actions and speech. 

The breastplate of righteousness is the righteousness and love of Christ that protects our heart from being attacked or weakened. When we know and believe that Christ loves us and died for us out of grace not because we did anything to deserve it and that he gives us life and love even when we can’t do it on our own or even when we are controlled by sin this protects our heart from hardening and getting bitter towards God and others and allows us to maintain right actions and speech. 

How to Apply it:

• Remembering that Jesus died for us even while we were sinners so that we could have eternal life and freedom in love 
• Remembering that just like everyone else in the world, we are loved by God no matter what, even when we mess up or are not perfect with God
• Finding, speaking, memorizing scripture passages of forgiveness and God’s love for us

Feet Fitted With Readiness for Gospel of Peace

The feet that are fitted and ready to move to tell people about the peace of Jesus and God is a symbol that enables us to speak the word of God and share the good news of the peace of Jesus to others even despite animosity or push back from people. 

Satan wants us to believe that we can’t share the gospel or that we should shy away from it because a lot of people won’t receive it well or will be uninterested. The footwear gives us the ability to move and share the good news with other people in the world. Part of what takes us away from fully embracing the presence of God and being alive with the spirit is the shyness to speak the word of God or to proclaim the good news of Jesus.

How to Apply it:

• Be willing to share your faith in Jesus with people where you see a need
• Be willing to take action and move into situations that need God’s love
• Be willing to move and take action when God wants you to

Shield of Faith

Satan can attack us with insults, lies, setbacks, temptations, and deceptions. The shield of faith is a shield that helps to stop and deflect these attacks and lies with the faith that God has shown us in our lives, through scripture, and in our spirits.

When we can see and remind ourselves of God’s perspective that situations are temporary and that ultimately God was victorious and will be victorious in our lives and in the world we can use the shield of faith to deflect and protect ourselves from these attacks that try to convince us that we are doomed or we won’t overcome something.

 How to Apply it:

• When you hear God obey Him and trust that His plan is victorious 
• Remember that Jesus won and defeated evil on the cross
• Remember that negative lies about yourself or a situation are not ultimate truth
• When you are tired or beaten down, go to the Lord to receive rest and recovery

Helmet of Salvation

Satan wants to make us doubt God or to believe false thoughts that we experience about ourselves and others. The helmet of salvation is a helmet that protects us from believing in false thoughts that come into our mind by remembering the truth of God and His word.

If we are tempted to believe a thought about us or others that is not of God’s character and love for us then we can write it down (aka take it captive) or tell someone about it and then compare it to what God says about us in scripture or from remembering our experience with the Holy Spirit. 

The reality we need to remember is that thoughts are just thoughts. They are not who we are, we determine which thoughts we take in, and we should not believe the dumb thoughts that come into our mind if they are not aligned with the love of God for us.

 How to Apply it:

• When we are ruminating or doubting mentally we can compare our thoughts and beliefs to what God says about us in the bible 
• We can take a thought or belief captive and then compare it to the word of God which is related to that thought or belief
• We can bring our worries or ruminations with us into worship, lay them down, and then allow God’s spirit to change our state so we can see the real truth about ourselves in His presence

Sword of The Spirit

The sword is a weapon of offense in the armor. We use God’s word and characteristics to fight back against lies, doubts, negative self worth, fear, uncertainty about our lives, and more.

There are times when we need to take offense and action against evil in our lives before they start to take hold of us. Praying with scripture, affirmations of God’s love, and other movements of the spirit can crowd out Satan’s attempts to infiltrate our mind and body. 

Getting encouragement from friends, and speaking life and truth into yourself is a healthy offense for Satan’s attacks.

 How to Apply it:

• Pray in the spirit and in God’s word on offense
• Recite or study verses that are related to lies about your situation
• At first signs of evil or darkness pray and remember God’s love and power

Praying in The Spirit

The last thing it says in the Ephesians passage is to pray in the spirit on all occasions. Pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

It says to be alert and to pray for all of the Lord’s people as well as anyone who is speaking about the Lord or doing good work for the Lord. 

To pray that the mystery, beauty, and truth of the Gospel be proclaimed fearlessly. 

I think this is important in the context of spiritual warfare and the armor of God because when we pray to God and believe that God is who He says He is then we maintain a connection with the Lord just by praying and by maintaining this connection with the Lord and speaking life in Him it naturally crowds out attacks and evil spirits from coming into us.

We simply maintain being in the presence of God when we are in connection with Him on a daily basis.

So if we are in a situation where we can tell that there is darkness or we find ourselves slipping in some way, we should pray in those situations. And if we don’t feel like we can pray, we should reach out to someone who can pray for us. Pray for ourselves, for others, and pray to stay connected to God while going through them.

How to Put On The Armor of God Daily

Each day we have a new opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the world and do great work for the Lord. To stay in connection with God’s love and grace there are a few habits we can consider to keep the armor of God on so darkness and evil don’t bring us down.

Remember that in order to combat negativity and evil we first must have awareness of these things.

• Reading scripture or flipping to passages or verses that are related to the season or experience we are moving through 
• Worshipping God with music and surrendering our own selfishness
• Renewing our commitment to the Lord each morning before the day starts 
• Praying to God at set times and throughout the day
• Not believing every dumb thought that comes into our mind
• Comparing a sticky thought or belief with what God’s thinks about us in scripture
• Focus on loving others and thanking God for all things

Conclusion

The armor of God is about being able to maintain our connection and relationship with God in our daily walk. It’s about remembering we are loved by God no matter what. 

It helps us to combat and let go of evil, negativity, and darkness when we become aware of it and are being attacked by it in some way.

I encourage you to stand strong in your faith in Jesus using the different aspects of the armor of God in all situations so that you can rest securely in the love of God.