Shield Up!

Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Ephesians 6:16

In ancient warfare, an officer commands his soldiers to raise their shields or to “shield up!” It means maximizing your resilience against destructive attacks from the opponent and protecting yourself.

Paul compares spiritual principles for Christians to live by to that of a Roman soldier’s armor. The Christian struggle is spiritual and not against flesh and blood. The believer needs to win in the spiritual conflict. Spiritual armor helps us to live for God’s kingdom successfully.

The first aspect of the armor is to take up the shield of faith. It quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one. The shield represents faith. The fiery darts and arrows represent negative thoughts, fears, doubts, unbelief, vengeful and bitter thoughts, and dark feelings. It represents proud, vain, selfish imagination and destructive, hateful, jealous lies.

A shield of faith is the first barrier against the enemy’s attack. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Without faith, it is impossible to please God(Hebrew 11:6). Satan’s attacks can sometimes cause us to doubt God. However, faith prompts us to believe in God to extinguish the enemy’s arrows that may have caused any damage or injury.

Faith chooses to believe that – Jesus has redeemed us, and there is no more condemnation. Faith is one of the greatest gifts. It is how we receive grace and come into a relationship with God. We are justified through faith; we belong to God and have peace with Him. Let us lay down every fear and pick up the ‘shield of faith.’
The battle belongs to God. He causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus, always(2 Corinthians 2:14).