Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
What comes to mind when you think about faith? As believers, we know that faith is a central part of our lives because we've been saved by grace through faith. For a long time, when I would think about faith, I would think of it as a very passive thing. I thought it was something like, I put my faith in Jesus and now I'm saved. I thought the role of faith was just keeping me connected to Jesus.
The Bible actually talks about faith in a much more active way. It says that faith is supposed to be playing a very specific role in our lives. One place that we read about this act of faith is in the book of Ephesians, where we find our Verse of the Day today.
Ephesians chapter 6, verse 16, the Apostle Paul writes, "In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil."
Faith as a Shield
As Paul has been describing the armor of God, he equates each piece of armor that a typical soldier would wear to a different attribute of our lives as believers. I love what he does with faith. He equates faith to a shield because what does a shield do? A shield protects you during times of attack. That's exactly what our faith should be doing. Our faith allows us to endure the battles that we face every day.
Now, you might be asking yourself, what sort of battles would I possibly be facing? Well, remember what Paul said back in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12. He says that we don't war against flesh and blood. That the battle that we fight is an invisible battle, a spiritual battle, and one that he describes here as the fiery arrows of the devil.
The Fiery Arrows of the Devil
You might be asking, what are these fiery arrows? A lot of times they're described as the ways that the devil tries to pull us from focusing on God. Maybe this is doubt, fear, anxiety, questioning, or self-loathing. If the devil hits us in our heart with these things, and we allow them to penetrate deep enough, we're done for.
But faith can step in and be a shield for us, protecting us from these things, reminding us that God is always with us. Reminding us that He fights our battles, and that because He died on the cross and we've placed our faith in Him, He is leading us into life everlasting.
How to Grow Your Shield of Faith
I have a few ways that I want to encourage all of us to grow in our faith and use it so that we might protect ourselves from these spiritual battles.
The first is that we should be disciplined in growing our faith. Faith isn't just this thing that is like a light switching on or off, but the Bible actually describes us as having a measure of faith that God gives to us. Just like a soldier would take that shield and they would go be disciplined in their practice so that when battle actually came, they were ready and they knew how to use it, we need to be doing the same with our faith.
We need to be disciplined. We need to be reading our Bible. We need to be spending time in prayer, surrounding ourselves in a community of faith, serving one another, giving generously. These are ways to stretch our faith so we know what it's like to live out our faith.
Faith in Community
We also need to be doing this in the context of community. Look at the types of shields that Paul is describing here. They're not small shields. Maybe you think of a circular shield. These were actually full length shields that would cover the body. In a battle, soldiers would actually be able to stand next to each other and link their shields together and create a protection. They would call it a tortoise shell.
When we take our faith in isolation, sure, we can take some attacks here and there, but we're most powerful when we're together creating a protection.
Be Prepared for Attack
Lastly, I just want to say that we should be prepared for attack. I know it sounds ridiculous, but if we don't expect to be attacked spiritually in our Christian walks, we're going to be caught off guard. A shield is only useful if you have it at the ready when the attack comes.
Be aware that being a follower of Jesus means that the enemy wants to attack you and will attack you, but you don't have to be afraid because you have this faith that protects you. Your God goes before you. He fights your battles and He promises you victory.
