Breastplate of Faith and Love
“But since we
belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a
breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” 1 Thess. 5:8
In the Greek, weapons carry the same meaning as armor. We find armor a frequent reference throughout
Paul’s letters. Our spiritual armor is
mighty, which is spirit power and ability.
As Roman soldiers went to war with natural armor, Christians are called
to battle with spiritual armor. We have
been given weapons to use for both defensive measures as well as offensive
measures. These spiritual weapons are
used to wage battle against the thoughts seeking to penetrate our mind that
would hold us back from walking victoriously with Christ Jesus.
We find in chapter 17 of 1 Samuel a situation where David is
preparing to battle Goliath. Saul gives
David his armor, which, after trying on, David decides not to use, as he hasn’t
tested it. Instead David picks up five
smooth stones, the weapons of a shepherd, and brings them into battle. All that was needed was one stone to bring
about the defeat of Goliath. We all have
Goliaths in our lives, and we need tested armor to defeat them.
In this passage Paul is encouraging the church at
Thessalonica to pick up the armor of faith, love and hope. Hope of salvation shall be worn as the
helmet, guarding the mind. Faith and
love will be the breastplate, guarding the heart. These are powerful spiritual weapons to overcome
the things of the enemy: faith, and hope and love. We discover these same three attributes in 1
Corinthians 13 – the greatest of which is love.
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