[Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-17]

Today I will talk about how to filter your thoughts with the breastplate of righteousness of God in place before it spills out through your mouth and action.

The Apostle Paul told Christians to put the breastplate of righteousness of God in your chest. It is the second effective spiritual armor of God for the Christians who want to be a radiant person to enjoy the brilliant Christian life.

In the Bible days, people believed that the human soul was divided into three parts. The first one was a rational soul. It was in the brain that manages your intellectual and logical reasoning. Another one is the sensitive soul. It was in the chest or heart to control sensory perceptions, which are love, kindness, and compassion. The last one was the vegetative soul, which was natural feelings or emotions, which is an immediate or natural reaction that come out your belly.

Paul said in Philippians 3:19, It is flesher desire. “to those who follow their own flesher desire, “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame,” Flesher desire comes from their belly, not from the heart. Do not let your belly lead your life.  

Flesher desire means spill your guts without filtration of Christian love and manner that Jesus Christ taught us to do. Paul also said in Ephesian 4, speaking the truth in love, which means you can spill out your guts but it should be filtered by love of Jesus when you have deal with people around you, especially in the faith community.

I have two practical examples. Do not try to fight against people based on political views because it doesn’t seem to be the Christian way. Some of them may be family members or closest friends of you. Don’t turn your house into a battlefield because it kills your joy.

One day, Lisa called my sister-in-law, who was in Korea, and talked about how she was doing. At that time, she said to Lisa, “I almost had to file divorce papers with my husband because of different political views. My brother did not like the politicians of the particular state from which my sister-in-law was born. It is like some Ohioans did not like Michiganders. My sister-in-law had heard for years that my brother was gossiping about the politicians in her hometown. One day she told my brother that if you don’t stop talking about political debates, I’ll leave you. Although he is a devout Christian, political disputes have nearly broken his relationship with his family.

What about racism? To discriminate against people on the basis of racial differences, it is not only against the person that you don’t like, but also you do against the creator who created them like that kind. If you don’t like the behavior or the way of life of others, you don’t have to accept it, but you should respect the human dignity of the individuals because God made it.

The Real Enemy

Paul talked about the real enemy that Christians should fight against is the evil one who worked behind the people. Do you like snakes? I hate to see snakes. In 2019, when I tried to plug an electrical extension cord into an outlet outside my house, I saw a black snake moving around my leg. I jumped from there and was tempted to kill him because I didn’t like snakes. When I saw a snake, I thought it was an enemy I had to fight.

However, Snakes are not Christians’ spiritual enemy to hate. The serpent was not created as evil. They are one of God’s creatures and “was craftier than any of the wild animals.” 

The serpent was being used as an instrument that Satan utilized to tempt Eve. The same tempter utilized the apostle Peter as his instrument to try to tempt Jesus in Matthew 16:23. “Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me.” The same tempter can use anyone as his vehicle against you.

You heard about many family dynamics, domestic violence, and social conflicts in your community. It is an example of spiritual warfare. When you are under attack by an individual that you know, you need to know that the real enemy is working behind them.

God’s Solution

God’s perfect solution is to wear “the breastplate of righteousness in place,” and it is the second armor of God that protects you and your family from Satan’s spiritual attack. The original meaning of righteousness of God in Greek is “God’s judicial approval,” which means the righteousness of God is God’s measuring standard.

However, in verse 14, “Stand firm then, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.” It means to put God’s measuring stick on our chest. The chest implies an individual’s heart. Christian love and compassion come out from there. The spiritual meaning for “with the breastplate of righteousness” is to put God’s measuring ruler on your heart as your standard and use it properly when you deal with other people. It will protect your heart from evil.

If you have individuals that you are troubled with, you should not use the measurement of your feeling but use God’s righteousness and His measure of love because the one that you trouble with  is not the real enemy whom you fight.

The enemy is always working behind in the shadow. if you fight with a person (flesh and blood); you will fall into a trap, and both of you would experience spiritual problems such as feelings of anger or hopelessness, feelings of depression, and feeling abandoned by God.

My Experience

I have a Korean friend with whom I shared a house, meals together, and went to church with him. One day, we had some trouble with each other, and it was getting serious between us. I believe that I could control myself in the situation without anger issues for a while. However, one day, I accepted my inner voice about him. The inner voice was. “If I did not go against him, I would be a loser.” The voice that I heard was, “you are a loser.” I was supposed to say, “no, I am not a loser; I am a child of God.” Instead of that, I just accepted the voice and told myself, “Yes, I am a loser.” After that, I could not control my feeling of anger toward him. I did not want to see him and did not like to spend time with him. After that moment, I could not sleep well and eat properly. I lost more than ten pounds in weight within two, three months. It was spiritual warfare that I experienced.

Conclusion

Christians are under attack. Sometimes, spiritual welfare is more complicated than we thought. Therefore, by putting the breastplate of righteousness as your measuring ruler in your heart, you will be protected from the evil one.

In other words, 1 peter 1:13-15 says prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on Jesus and his righteousness judgement when he is revealed. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.

I have three F-words to describe these three parts: fact, faith, and feelings. A Campus Crusade booklet uses it as a train picture: the engine of the train is the fact. The fuel tank is faith, and the carriage is feeling. When you keep your faithful Christian journey, please try not to let your feeling lead your life. But let the fact and faith lead your Christian life.

@ 2022.07.17. Pastor Cloud Poy

@ Photo on Unsplash