Many years ago I used to make declarations about putting on the armour of God (Ephesians 6). Then I realised that each piece of the armour is more than just a declaration – they are attitudes and actions that draw from the resurrection life of Jesus within us.
Take the belt of truth for example. A morning declaration in our quiet time “I put on the belt of truth!” is worthless when we don’t do what we say we will do. When our actions don’t agree with our words our belt is loosened, our trousers slip to our ankles, and we fall over. If you’re finding the Christian walk is more like a stumble, maybe you are not always truthful in what you say and that’s why you’re tripping up.
Here are some examples of belt-loosening, trouser-dropping, entangling sins.
“Yes we’ll get together sometime”. But you never follow through. Here’s a tip: don’t say it unless you mean it.
“I forgot”. Let’s re-phrase that: “You weren’t important enough for me to remember”.
When we communicate one thing but our actions say a different thing we totally loosen our belt of truth. When our words are truth and our actions are in agreement we can have confidence that our spirit belt is buckled tight, our loose clothing is out of the way, and we are ready to do God’s bidding and run the race of life unhindered.