Dear Lilies,
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:10-17
Last summer, I was sitting in a group therapy session (I mentioned it has been rough, right?) with other girls when the topic turned to beauty, the concept of what is beautiful and how that word is used in our society today. In silence we sat thinking the same thing. Beautiful = of, or relating to, the ideal, body, physical appearance, flawless. One girl timidly shared that in Italian, the word beautiful is used for much more than just physical appearance, or even aesthetic appeal. It is often used for describing delicious food (oh, the irony), or a job well done. Needless to say, I left group that day with a burning question in my mind. What is beautiful? The next morning I searched my Bible to see what God’s Word had to say about beauty and truly what is beautiful.
What I found blew me away.
*End of Trailer*
Sorry, that is a preview of coming attractions. That is the letter I keep wanting and trying to write to you all, but God has had other plans for us. Lord willing, I will write to you to answer this question of what is beautiful, but today, we need (I need) to have some battle tactics.
We all have different battlefields. They are endless in their issues. The armor God gives us and the tactics he has laid out for us can be applied to any battlefield in your life. But today, let’s get real and address the battlefield covered in “ideal” bodies and “perfect hair”, the next thing not to eat and the hottest way to make that booty pop and tummy tuck.
The battlefield of beauty. Oh, it’s a nasty one.
I really don’t need to go into all the nitty gritty and describe to you how society (and that includes me, you, your friends, your classmates, your family, and the “THE MEDIA” in all it’s forms) has presented us with a standard of beauty that is:
- Fake
- Unrealistic
- Unauthentic
- Unattainable
- Fake
- Did I mention, Fake?
Or at least I hope we all realize that is the case.
So the question becomes: How do we stay strong in the world, without submitting to and falling prey to the lies?
We may know, deep down, that those images flashed before us everyday of “the perfect body” are wrong, but at the end of the day, what do we do about it? We scroll through our Instagrams only to see the same idols portrayed.
We feel defeated. Our minds get contorted. We know it is wrong, but we feel helplessly overcome by the weight of the lie embodied in a “flawless-thin-toned-perfectly-sculpted-blonde” or “insert-your-personal-standard-of-what-you-have-deemed-the-perfect-body”
Lilies, we are NOT defeated. You are NOT overcome.
It’s time to fight. Fight for your freedom. If nothing else, fight for your friends and fight for your sisters. Do you want your sisters, daughters and friends to be held captive by the same evil mindset?
No!
We do not have to be overtaken and defeated by the powers of the dark and evil world. Radical change doesn’t start by us writing letters to magazines, clothing companies and model agencies telling them to stop using rail thin or photoshopped women on their advertisements. Yes, those things need to happen, but the bottom line is, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world.”
Radical change happens in hearts. How in the world can we hope to change things in our world, if we ourselves cannot even STAND against the lie? If we let ourselves, because of lack of knowledge of the Truth, be defeated daily by the very thing we are trying to defeat?
No.
Good news: God has graciously given us everything we need to win. After all, we are more than conquerors.
Suit up, ladies:
Belt of Truth
We must put this securely around our waists before we put the rest of our armor on. It is our foundation. We will not be swayed by the lies of the world if we have the Truth cinched around our waists.
Breastplate of Righteousness
To keep our hearts protected by the assaults the devil hurls at us.
Feet fitted with the readiness from the Gospel of Peace
We know our place in eternity. We have peace in the assurance that we are saved and will spend eternity with Him who died for us and set us free from the condemnation we deserve.
Shield of Faith
To extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. Yes, the bible clearly states “flaming” arrows.
Helmet of Salvation
Guarding our heads, our minds from the “impending danger” we will face.
Sword of the Spirit
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, through Him, we have unstoppable, incomprehensible, and unearthly power. The more Word we know, the more effective we are in defending ourselves with this sword.
There is so much awesome study that has been done in depth on these defense weapons we have and I could never exhaust this topic. But my time is up and I REALLY feel compelled that y’all need this (I need this) message of Truth this Monday morning.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:10)
STAND.
Don’t miss this, the battle is already won by our Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t have to fight for our places in Eternity, those are already waiting for us without names on them. We just have to STAND in His Truth here on earth so that we may not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Romans 12:2)
Stand.
Suit up.
Fight the fight by STANDING in His Truth.
In His Love & lots of strong hot coffee on this glorious Monday on the first day of February,
Sarah
Walvoord, John F., and Roy B. Zuck. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1983. Print.