Whole Armor of God: Helmet and Sword

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Close your eyes and make sure your body feels relaxed and supported. Let go of any tension in your face, jaw, neck, and shoulders. 

Take a few deep breaths. Inhale peace, calm, humility, and openness. Exhale tension, negativity, pride, and stress from your body and mind.

In this state of calm receptiveness, say a quick prayer that you will be open to any revelation the Lord has for you as you ponder.

As your breathing returns to normal, turn your thoughts and attention to the metaphor of putting on the whole armor of God. Allow your heart or mind to notice anything that feels personal, timely, or meaningful. Don’t worry about focusing on every quote or question I share. 

Helmet

The next piece of armor we will ponder today is the “helmet of salvation”. (Ephesians 6:17.)

The helmet of course, covers the head, which is associated with your brain and your thoughts. How does salvation protect your mind and brain? 

Other scriptures in the New Testament refer to it as the “helmet of the hope of salvation.” 1 Thessalonians 5:5, 8-9 (What does adding the words “hope of” to the description do to your understanding of this piece of armor? 

Sword

After the helmet of salvation comes “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” (Ephesians 6:17.) 

Jorge F. Zeballos and others have pointed out that “in the account of the temptations to which the Savior was submitted, we see that He always answered Satan having scriptures in His mind, quoting them, and applying them at the right moment.” (Jorge F. Zeballos, “Building a Life Resistant to the Adversary,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 50–52.) 

How often does your mind go to scripture when faced with temptation, stress, conflict, trials, and so on? Do you have a favorite scripture or two? You don’t have to memorize dozens of scriptures or be able to reference people and places and stories like a scriptorian in order to have the word of God be a sword for you. But how can visualizing the scriptures as a sword in the fight against darkness and deception help you focus your study? Are you prompted to do anything specific?

One differentiating feature of the sword is that it can be used offensively. The other pieces of armor are used to defend and protect. And while a sword certainly can be used defensively, it is also a weapon, capable of taking affirmative, offensive action. 2 Nephi 32:3 tells us to “feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” 

After I read the following story from Earl “Torch” Morris, ponder how the spirit, which is the word of the Lord, can help you take proactive action against the fiery darts of the adversary--how does the spirit tell you what to do, not just what to defend against? 

As a runner most of my adult life, I would often leave my Layton, Utah home at sunrise and would run past the neighborhood along the base of the mountainside. One particular morning as I ran along the familiar path, I noticed that the earth had been moved and cleaned of the sagebrush and weeds that normally covered a particular area. It was apparent that someone was planning on developing this area for new houses. Curiously, each morning I would run by this area wondering when the development might begin. The days turned to weeks and after about two months, I came to a realization that whatever development was planned must have been delayed. For, what was once a clean and weed free area was now once again covered with weeds and sticker bushes. Amazingly, without a good seed planted in the cleared and fertile ground, the bad seeds had filled the vacant lot.

Our minds are much like this empty lot. If we are not continually filling our minds with the good seeds of truth, our minds will be overgrown with the bad seeds or the filth, perversions and lies that Satan is anxiously waiting to put in our way. As a people, we have become desensitized to the camouflage of evil; In fact, there is a movement that tries to convince all of us that the negative things we see and say and read every day do not have an adverse effect on our minds and actions. This is not truth. I know and bear witness that both the good and the bad have an effect on our minds and the absence of truth or the good seed makes way for all of the seemingly unwanted influences or the bad seeds of the Devil.

Earl "Torch" Morris, “Putting on the Whole Armor of God,” BYU Hawaii Devotional, May 22, 2018, https://speeches.byuh.edu/devotional/putting-on-the-whole-armor-of-god

How do you use the word of god to proactively fill your mind and your life with good seeds of truth? What other proactive measures do you take in fighting the forces of evil and negativity and deception in your life?

When you are ready, take a deep breath and slowly turn your awareness back to your body. As you open your eyes and return to your surroundings, jot down any thoughts, promptings, or questions that came to mind while you were pondering. Stay tuned for the rest of this series on the Whole Armor of God. If you’d like to study in between segments, read Ephesians chapter 6 and Doctrine and Covenants 27. Also, if you enjoy this podcast, please leave a review and let me know I should keep making it. Thank you!