Armor. Swords. Helmets. Warfare. All things not typically associated with being a young woman, wife, and/or a mother. But the fact of the matter is, spiritual warfare is happening and we need the armor of God to remain strong and righteous. So, what is the armor of God exactly?
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. – Ephesians 6:10-17 NIV
This verse is the foundation for the mission of this space: Using the Sword of the Spirit to Steward Daily Life Well.
I chose the Sword specifically because the Word of God, the Bible, is literally the basis to my household’s values, the foundation to my faith and is quite literally God-breathed. Without the Word, I would simply be standing on sifting sand. How I find joy would be dependent on the day’s circumstances.
Without God’s Word I am vulnerable to all kinds of temptation from the Enemy as Ephesians 6 clearly says, but I know for me specifically I am at risk of giving in to anger and frustration if I don’t have the Word of God on my heart to tame my tongue and actions. Whether a child is misbehaving, ‘my plan’ for the day is unexpectedly altered, or something doesn’t go right at work, I have no excuse to act on anger and frustration. Here’s an example of how I use the Sword of the Spirit to combat anger. If the Sword is the Word of God then I need a verse that is God’s Truth, the only Truth, to engrain into my heart and mind when I am tempted to act on anger.
I cling to this verse:
26 “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. “ – Ephesians 4:26-27 NIV
It’s important to note that being angry isn’t a sin. It’s acting on it: yelling, using harsh words, being impatient, lacking self-control, being aggressive instead of gentle – basically anything that contradicts the Fruits of the Spirit is a sin. We will talk about the Fruits of the Spirit in next week’s post.
Not being in the Word would leave me making decisions based on the “knowledge” of man and that is simply not knowledge at all.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10 NIV
I hope this post encourages you to study God’s Word more in order to better steward the gifts of speech, time, your household, your community, and more.
Janessa Shyda 