Put On part 4
Let's talk about the armor of God today. Ephesians 6:11 says, "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." And you all know I don't preach or Rant about the devil very much. But to put it simply, he is the accuser, right? Coming at you with lies. Or perhaps trying to dreg up the past to use against you. Literally a bully who will try to dominate and control you. Sometimes even under the guise of "love." But that's not love. Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. Love doesn't keep a record of rights and wrongs. Love is what protects us from those lies. Love is what protects us, even, from the mistakes we've made in the past. Because while we can't pretend like the past didn't happen, we don't have to let it define us. We can learn from our mistakes. Learn and grow. Because when you know better, you can do better. When you know who you really are, you don't have to try to be anybody else. When you know the truth, you can ignore the lie. And I think you can literally just ignore it. You don't have to fight it. Religious folk always want something to fight about. Something to attack. But I'm more of the mind of, "Blessed are the peacemakers." I don't think we need to condemn, and control, and bully people to get them to do what we want. I think we can live and let live. Love people no matter what. And that doesn't mean enabling people. That doesn't mean being ok with any and every thing. To that point, I always say, "Trust your gut." If something makes my tummy hurt, that's something I'm probably going to avoid. Stay away from. Say no to. God gave us instincts, we ought to use them. So what I think this armor is, rather than something that allows us to attack each other... is really more of a shield. I always thought Captain America was one of the coolest super heroes. Partly because he uses a shield. Because, I mean, people shoot at him. Quite a bit. So what better to have than something to block those shots? The world is always taking shots at us. Trying to knock us down. Or drag us down. Lying on us. Lying to us. But I'm telling you, the fire in you is always hotter than the fire you're in. Because the fire in you is the consuming fire of God. The consuming fire of love. And love never fails. So when we read a verse like Romans 12:20, "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head," we need to understand that the goal is not to burn anyway, or hurt anyone. The goal is to melt their hurts. To destroy our enemies by making them our friends. The armor protects us, and the fire inside consumes everything but itself. The fire of love consumes everything but love. So that only love remains. Think about what that would look like--that would be a world where we wouldn't even need armor, right? We wouldn't need to defend ourselves. And while Jesus never defended Himself, to the point of not even answering when He was on trial, He has given us the way. The more excellent way. Look at 1 Corinthians 10:13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." And, for the record, "escape" there means an exit or end. Which is to say that it came to pass, not to stay. Love never fails because love endures. We can endure. When we're going through hell, we need to keep on going. The only true failure is giving up. Getting knocked down and staying down. This armor that we are to put on is what helps us stand. And when Jesus, when LOVE, is holding you up... nothing can drag you down. So keep that head up. That you may be able to stand against any and everything that comes up!