| THE GIRDLE OF TRUTH Derek Prince HIS GLORY REIGNS B. Childress Oct 3 2008 08:00AM The first item of equipment is the girdle of truth. We must understand why a Roman legionary would need a girdle as part of his equipment. Remember that in those days, men's clothing(as well as women's) was usually a loose garment that came at least to the knees. In the case of the Roman legionary, it was a kind of tunic. When a Roman legionary was required to do something active, such as fight or use his weapons, he would need to take care of that loose garment. If he did not, its flaps and folds would hinder his movements and prevent him from using the rest of his equipment effectively. The first thing he had to do was to tie his girdle tightly around his waist in such a way that the tunic no longer flapped freely and could not hinder his further movements. This was essential, and it was the basis for everything else. That is why Paul mentioned the girdle of truth before he spoke about anything else. Quite often, the Bible speaks about a man "girding up his loins." This is what is meant by that phrase. Paul said the girdle for us is truth. I believe that does not mean abstract, theological truth, but truth in daily living. It means honesty, sincerity, openness, and frankness. As religious people, we are often encumbered with much sham and hypocrisy. Many things we say and do are not really meant, but we say them only because they sound good. We are full of religious clichés and insincerities. There are things we do, not to please God or because we really want to do them, but to please other people. Almost every religious group has its own particular clichés like, "Jesus will help you, brother." Sometimes that is nothing but a cop-out, because it is not Jesus who needs to help your brother; you need to help your brother. Religious talk like that is just like a loose, hanging garment. It gets in our way and prevents us from doing the kind of thing that God asks us to do. It prevents us from being active, energetic, effective Christians. It also prevents us from using the other items of equipment. We are required, first of all, to put on the girdle of truth. We must put away sham, hypocrisy, religious clichés, and saying and doing things we do not mean. Often truth is quite painful. You must begin to show other people the kind of person you really are. You may have been hiding away or putting on a religious front all this time, and now you are confronted with the need for real truth, openness, and frankness. You must put on the girdle and tie it around so that these religious insincerities and shams no longer hang around you and get in the way of things God is asking you to do. Source: Spiritual Warfare, by Derek Prince, Copyright 1987, Whitaker House. |
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