Ephesians 6:13-14

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.

(v13, NIV)

So, we must put on the whole armor of God. We can't just put on the helmet and think we're okay. What about the rest of the armor? The rest of our body is left unprotected; we can't go into battle like that. Now may not be the evil day. You may be living in comfort or without worry or care. However, trials and tribulations will come. You can't run from it, everyone faces troubles. So, when it comes, putting on the full armor will allow you to stand your ground. Prepare yourself.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

(v14, NIV)

The first piece of armor Paul lists is the belt of truth. Now, the word of God is truth; however, I don't think the belt is the word of God. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God and it doesn't really make sense to have two piece of armor represent the same thing. The belt of truth is truthfulness. We need to remain truthful.

How does truthfulness protect us? Truthfulness protects us from hypocrisy. The Pharisees were the epitome of hypocrisy. Whenever I think of hypocrisy, I think of the Pharisees. They did not have it right and were called on it by Jesus. However, there is also a lot of hypocrisy nowadays. This is especially apparent among those who call themselves Christians. There are many people who have turned away from Christianity because of the hypocrisy they see among those who call themselves Christians. It is true that everyone is a sinner, even Christians. However, the mere fact that so many are turned away because of an inconsistency between our actions and what we preach reveals a serious problem. This means that we as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ need to have a sincere desire to actually walk the walk. There are many who just want to look like a Christian, but that simply isn't truthful. That isn't truthful to themselves and that isn't truthful to others.

There are other aspects to living truthfully. Do you live as if you know the truth about the future? What I mean by that is, do you live knowing that we will all die and that we could die at any moment? Most people ignore this truth and live as if they would live forever. That's not living truthfully. Do you live with the truth of your actions? What I mean by that is do you live truthfully accepting the choices you've made and the consequences of their actions? Some people live as if their situation in life has absolutely nothing to do with the choices they have made in life. Do you live truthfully accepting and understanding your true relationship with God? There may be a measure or a gauge determining the level or degree of your relationship with God. However, there are some people who pretend that their relationship with God is great when it really isn't. Do not deceive yourselves.

What is the purpose of a belt? A belt holds up your pants. For me, I put my cell phone pouch on my belt as well. Unfortunately, the other day, I lost my cell phone. Somehow, it fell of my belt. In hindsight, it wasn't such a surprise because the belt I use is actually really crappy. In fact, it's an old Tim Horton's belt. It's quite flimsy and the phone pouch can easily fall off. I guess it's surprising that it took this long for it to fall off. Fortunately I found it and have been able to retrieve my lost cell phone. Regardless, the belt has a few purposes. It also helps to keep my shirt tucked in should I choose to tuck in my shirt. With regards to the armor, I've heard it taught that the breastplate would be tucked into the belt along with a tunic that the person would wear. In addition, the sword would be tucked into the belt as well. I'm guessing the sword would be sheathed while held by your belt, otherwise you may cut yourself. Regardless, it seems to hold most of the pieces together. In the same way, the belt of truth holds the armor of God together. Without truthfulness, everything falls apart. Without truthfulness, why would anyone believe us or listen to us. Not that it's important for others to listen to us, but it may also be a reflection of our lives. In addition, we would be found to be hypocrites and maybe not even a child of God. Take up the full armor of God, and this includes the belt of truth.