The Breastplate

Righteousness: The quality of being morally right or justifiable.

The second piece of armor we must put on is the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate was used by soldiers to protect their heart and vital organs. We, in the same way must protect our heart and our bodies from Satan’s arrows with the righteousness found in a life defined by Christ. It is important to remember that before Jesus washed away our sins we had not one drop of righteousness in our lives. It was only when Jesus came down, and he allowed the Holy Spirit to dwell among His people to edify us and make us more like Him, did we grow in righteousness. When we dive into the scriptures that were breathed out by God and we ask for heavenly wisdom, we become better prepared to face trials and temptations.

We have an example of lives being shaped by righteousness in John 15. Jesus is speaking to his disciples right before His arrest, and tells them that He is the vine and they are the branches. We constantly need to have pieces of our lives examined and modified to become more like Christ, just as a farmer would prune the branches of a vine to prohibit weeds from choking the plant. He trims the bad pieces of us off but allows the fruit to remain, in order that we might grow in obedience and faithfulness.
As followers of Jesus, we are targets for temptation and in consequence, we need accountability partners to help us maintain our kingdom mindset. Even Jesus, who was perfect had an inner circle of friends to confide in and ask for prayer. Being vulnerable is not bad, it is in fact something beautiful that allows God to grow us and shape us into the man/woman He has created us to be. When we are willing to look first to God and then to those God has put in our lives for truth and wisdom, we are focusing our minds and our lives on the kingdom and protecting ourselves from the enemy with the breastplate of righteousness.