Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ephesians 4-6.

At the end of his letter to the Church in Ephesus Paul writes that we should put on the full armor of God.  He describes that as the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, fitting our feet with the readiness which comes from the gospel of peace, taking up the shield of faith, wearing the helmet of salvation, and wielding the sword of the Spirit.  All of that is a good summation of how we can be prepared for battle against the spiritual rulers, powers, and authorities of this dark world.  However, I think truly understanding that armor requires us to look at Paul’s instructions from earlier in today’s passage.  We learn the readiness of which Paul wrote by being humble, gentle, and patient.  We truly wear the belt of truth when we speak the truth, and not just any truth, but that truth which is helpful in building up others.  We should never use the truth as an excuse to hurt others (NOTE: sometimes truth which others need to hear in order to become better people hurts, but sometimes we tell ourselves we are telling the hurtful truth because we are trying to help, but we really just want to hurt the other person).  We cannot put on the helmet of salvation until we get rid of bitterness, rage, brawling, slander, and every other form of malice.  Finally, we must put aside all sexual immorality, greed, and idolatry in order to put on the breastplate of righteousness.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.