Still Waters Moment The Armor of God: Sword of the Spirit
Ephesians 6: 10-17 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.
I played on my high school basketball team from 9th-12th grade. One thing that remained consistent all four years was that I was good on defense. I boxed out and rebounded the ball well. I defended my zone or assigned person with competence and did my best to make it difficult for her to shoot by keeping myself between her and the basket. Occasionally I blocked the shots and would sometimes then be able to snatch the ball putting it back into my team’s possession which made me feel like a beast! However, offense was another matter altogether. While “the beast” may have made a good defensive play, that beast quickly shrunk to a mouse while en route to the other end of the court to play offense. I executed the plays as rehearsed in practice but anytime I got my hands on the ball, I was afraid to shoot. I would immediately look for a teammate to pass to because the thought of shooting and missing in front of a crowd incited fear.
If we want to live a victorious Christian life, we don’t have the choice to allow fear to overtake us defensively nor offensively. Ephesians 6:17 states that the sword is God’s word, the bible. In physical war, the sword could be used defensively to block an enemy’s strike and offensively by wielding blows. We must be skilled in using our sword of the Spirit in both manners: defensively would be being responsive and offensively is being proactive. Both require intentional action. Jesus was the perfect example of using the sword defensively. Matthew chapter 4 tells the account of Jesus being tempted by Satan after fasting 40 days and 40 nights. Each time the enemy tried to bait Jesus with a temptation, Jesus responded with a relevant scripture and the enemy eventually left Him.
For an offensive example of using the sword, let’s look at something practical. You are presented with two job opportunities. Obviously, you will consider the pros and cons of each position. However, you would acknowledge you are not the authority on the final decision, God is. Your actions would support this by praying and possibly fasting as you seek His face. To encourage yourself and honor God, you would pick up your sword and speak relevant scripture to the situation, e.g. Proverbs 3:5-6 “5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight” and Psalm 25: 4-5 “4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. 5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long.”
Note that the sword of the Spirit works in tandem with the shield of faith. As you are wielding the sword by applying relevant scripture to a situation or trial you find yourself in, your faith, the shield, is fed and utilized against the enemy’s attacks. You continue to be proactive with scripture and Godly behavior while continuing to have faith. This also builds your spiritual strength as you wouldn’t keep fighting if you didn’t believe God would give you the victory. Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Thus, a benefit of utilizing the sword is that this living entity is doing supernatural work within us, shaping our spirit, thoughts, intentions, etc. to look more and more like His.
Reflection: What scriptures can you recite that are relevant to trials and situations you are facing?
