Monday, April 17, 2023
What Weakens Our Witness
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. (Ephesians 6:13 NLT)
Someone has defined integrity as what you are when no one is looking. We may come off a certain way in public, but what are we like when we’re alone, when no one is in the room with us?
That speaks of our integrity—or lack thereof.
Foremost in our Christian experience, we need truth. As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to be what we say we are, both privately and publicly. When the apostle Paul wrote about putting on the armor of God, he began with the belt of truth.
He said, “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth” (Ephesians 6:14 NLT). We could call it the utility belt of truth. This represents a life and mind that are pulled together and ready to serve for the glory of God. It speaks of integrity.
The opposite of integrity is duplicity. Duplicity is hypocrisy. It’s trying to live a double life.
This is what weakens so many Christians today. James says, “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God” (4:4 NLT). Trying to live in two worlds just doesn’t work.
When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we join God’s army, so to speak. We’re no longer civilians; we’re under the command of the captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ. Of course, we have given up certain privileges, but we have gained far more.
If we haven’t put on the belt of truth, then all other pieces of spiritual armor will become somewhat irrelevant. We will be worthless and immobilized.
Duplicity and hypocrisy weaken our witness to a watching world. We need the belt of truth. We need integrity before God.
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