In Ephesians 6:14, Paul begins with the belt of truth:

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

As I studied other translations, reading, “having girded your loins with truth”, my first reaction was to roll my eyes at the priorities of a male author and wonder once again, what is it with men and their loins?  However, as I looked into the role of the belt in the armor of a Roman soldier, its criticality sprung from the page like a spark from the fire.  

The order in which this belt of truth is listed is no coincidence.  It must be the very first thing we put on. Its role is crucial and it is importance vital, as it is the one piece of armor which holds everything else together.  When preparing for battle, a Roman soldier would securely fasten his belt first and hang every other piece of armor on it.  The belt not only held the armor together, but it gave the soldier ease and freedom of movement essential for skillful maneuvering[1]. 

What, then, is the belt of truth to us, and how do we “wear” it? 

In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”  Therefore, if we want to clothe ourselves with the belt of truth, we must first clothe ourselves with Christ (Romans 13:14), by responding to His invitation to enter into a personal relationship with Him.  It is only in doing this that we can remain in Him and He in us (John 15:4). 

Truly living for Christ – verses living for the world – is where the real freedom of movement comes in.  The world we live in is full of standards and expectations – especially for women – which are unattainable and constantly changing.  Not only are the standards of the world unreasonable, we are left to meet them on our own. Every woman for herself.  While it would seem as if Jesus’ standards of perfection would be equally unattainable, it is essential to realize that there is not a standard He holds us to that he is unwilling to help us attain.  He does this through the power of His Holy Spirit within us. 

When Jesus ascended into heaven, he was not unaware of our weakness, our frailty, and our inability to be successful on our own (Hebrews 4:15).  In response to this knowledge, He left us with what He referred to as “the Helper” (John 14:16-26).  When we clothe ourselves in His truth, we not only have every opportunity to emerge victorious from our daily battles, but we have been empowered to do so with a sense of freedom from the chains of unrealistic expectations that bind the rest of the world!

Without the belt of truth, which is Christ Himself, the rest of the armor is useless. If a soldier attempted to wield every other piece of armor without first donning his belt, he would find himself with an inadequate number of hands. He would become so overburdened with trying to hold it all together himself, that he would lose the battle at the very first onslaught of attack.  So it is with us: Unless we first make the decision to hang every other thing in our lives – our thoughts, our decisions, our words, our actions – on the truth of who Jesus Christ is and on the authority He has over us, we will become entangled by our own striving, exhausted by our own effort, and slave to whatever comes our way.  Furthermore, every other piece of armor, which God intended us to wield with great power and authority, will be almost useless to us.

Before you go any further, make sure you have the belt of truth, which is Christ Himself, firmly secured. In order to do this, you must first believe that the sacrifice He made by giving up His life as payment for your sins is acceptable to God and that He has thus made you acceptable to God.  We show our acceptance of God’s forgiveness by making Christ Lord over our lives, living each day for Him, and by His standards. If you haven’t yet clothed yourself fully in the truth of Jesus Christ, you must do so before successfully employing any other scrap of spiritual armor. Otherwise, you will exhaust yourself and become entangled in the chains of this world, which so many women submit to.