Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth.
Ephesians 6:14 NKJV
When we are consuming the written Word of God daily and spending time with the Lord in prayer, He reveals truth to us. Jesus said that Satan is the father of all lies, so we can expect Satan to bring lies our way to try and deceive us. But, when we know the truth of God’s Word, we are able to stand against the lies of the enemy. The truth of God’s Word protects us from Satan’s lies and deceptions.
I never really understood why a belt would be part of our battle armor, but now I do. A belt is worn to carry our battle weapon – which is the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God). I believe this tells us that these two items of battle armor are very closely connected. We understand that the Word of God is absolute truth, and we stand in that truth no matter what.
Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
John 17:17 NKJV
The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
Psalm 119:160 NKJV
In biblical times, people who needed to fight or run without hinderance would tuck the hem of their garment into their belt/girdle to have freedom of movement in their legs. This same principle of “tying up loose ends” has a spiritual connotation for us, as we can see from Scripture:
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:13 NKJV
When Peter says, “Gird up the loins of your mind,” I believe he is encouraging us to gird up any loose ends in our thinking. This can include things like old thinking patterns as well as any areas of doubt, uncertainty or unbelief. Tying up loose ends in our thinking means that we intentionally change our thinking so that we come into agreement with the truth of God’s Word, and we allow His Word to completely change how we think and what we think about. This all forms part of mind renewal. As we come into agreement with the truth of God’s Word, we allow His Word to change us from the inside out. We start living according to what we read in the written Word of God.
Having said that, if there are areas of doubt or uncertainty with regards to God’s Word, Jesus promised to give us another Helper, and believe me when I say that we need the Holy Spirit. He will always lead us into all truth, as He is the Spirit of truth. We have this as a promise from our Beloved Jesus and can therefore take comfort in that.
However, when He, the (Holy) Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.
John 16:13 NKJV
The Holy Spirit will always confirm the truth of the Word of God. When we continually pray for God’s wisdom and truth, He will reveal it to us and destroy any lies from the enemy. I have experienced this many times now already. The Holy Spirit will also never go against the written Word of God, and we know that He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). If we are going the wrong way, He will guide us back into the truth.
This next Scripture has been absolutely instrumental in my journey with the Lord, because of the amazing peace and freedom it brings into our hearts and minds, when Jesus has revealed His truth to us:
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:32 NKJV
May I therefore encourage you to pray over any areas of doubt or uncertainty with regards to God’s Word and His truth. If there is an area where you do not yet experience peace and freedom, pray into that knowing that God delights to show His faithfulness. He will help you because He wants us to have His perfect peace in all things. When He reveals the truth to us, we will experience freedom, joy and peace, and this will allow us to stand firm against deception and lies from the enemy.
I pray these words have helped and encouraged you in Jesus’ precious name.
Until next time, God bless you.
thank you . What I cant understand sometimes is why is there so many different views on doctrine and each claims to have the truth.
Hi Clinton,
Thank you for your feedback.
I hear you, this has been something I have also been pondering on for a while now.
I have been seeking the Lord’s face in prayer so many times about this topic as well, and to ensure that my understanding of doctrine is correct. (Having said that, I am still learning) 🙂
Sometimes it can be hard to know who to listen to, but we know that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. Thank God for His precious Holy Spirit.
For us – I know that we can all make mistakes, and I have made mistakes in the past, but it’s ok – as long as we learn from our mistakes.
This is a tough one, because like you’ve said, so many people believe they have the truth.
I can only share with you what I believe the Lord has revealed to me:
If we seek Him with all our hearts, wanting to know the truth and being teachable – He will reveal truth to us.
Others may not agree, and that’s ok. We can love them anyway.
The Lord has helped me understand that in these cases it is best not to argue, but rather just pray for them that God would reveal truth to them. (But He will do it in His timing)
Also, love is the perfect law of liberty. We can continue just to walk in the Spirit bearing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and just try our best to be like Jesus Christ.
He will complete the good work He started in each one of us.
I pray that God will reveal truth to you as you seek Him in prayer and that He will help you with wisdom and understanding in Jesus name.
Blessings