The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That’s the bad news. The good news is that God has given us spiritual armor with which to defend ourselves as well as spiritual weapons with which to fight back with. The first piece of armor is The Belt of Truth (Ephesians 6:14a)
We need the belt of truth because Satan wants to deceive us. John 8:44 says of Satan “When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Now if you know the truth, you don’t need to be worried about being deceived by a lie. But if you don’t know the truth – if you don’t read and learn the Bible, then you’ll be carried away by any old lie because you have no knowledge of the truth. This is why it’s so important that on a daily basis you’re in touch with your Bible – which contains God’s truth.
Nowadays, counterfeit money is so close to real money, that even experts sometimes have trouble telling if it’s real or fake. Back in the day, counterfeit money wasn’t a near spitting image of the real deal, so it was easier to spot. But nowadays it’s hard. So now the money in question has to be examined by special instrumentation that can tell the difference.
In our culture, it’s getting harder and harder to discern the truth from a lie. After thousands of years of practice, Satan’s gotten good at crafting lies that sound like truth. The only way to really tell what’s true and what’s false, is with special instrumentation (what we call the word of God – the Bible). By lining up Satan’s lies that sound like truth with the word of God, we can readily identify a lie when we see one.
I’ll never forget the time a woman told me she believed that people should do “whatever makes them happy.” Though sayings like these sound good on the surface and might appear as truth (and the right way to live), the logic behind sayings like this fall apart when you dig a little deeper. After thinking about it for a moment, I replied “What if a makes a man happy to cheat on his wife by sleeping with another woman? Should he do what makes him happy?” I almost got slapped, which confused me because I was being respectful and this wasn’t a heated debate. Well, I found out years later than this woman’s husband had cheated on her with another woman. Friends – when you read the Bible you learn that God’s #1 goal for us in life is to be holy, not happy. But if you don’t know the truth of God’s Word, you might be deceived by a lie of Satan.
Another popular lie of Satan in our culture today is that “love justifies all things.” Nowadays people will justify any type of relationship, saying “As long as there’s love then it’s ok.” Again, this sounds good on the surface, but let’s dig a little deeper. A while back an adult female teacher fell in love with a much, much younger male student. For some time they were both enjoying a sexual relationship, until she got caught and arrested and put in prison. In this instance, did love (which was present) justify the relationship? No! Not at all! Even though love was present, the relationship was still completely inappropriate and immoral. Well, when you read the Bible you learn that God justifies all things, not love. That is, God determines what’s right and wrong – not love. If God says a certain relationship is wrong, even if love is present, that relationship is still wrong. But if you don’t know the truth of God’s Word, you might be deceived by a lie of Satan.
If you don’t regularly read the Bible, you are a prime candidate to be swept away by one of Satan’s lies. They are getting harder and harder to discern from the truth, so I’m encouraging you today to get in the Word. Get a Bible and read it. Find some preachers you enjoy and listen to their sermons. Make sure you have a steady diet of God’s truth in your life. When you do, you have put on the belt of truth.