Daily Devo
Onward Christian Soldiers
By: Mae Archila
Monday, February 23, 2026
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the devil’s schemes” Ephesians 6:10-11
Back when I was a teacher, I remember helping the children march to a bible song called “I’m in the Lord’s Army”. Before we started, I would pray for them as they pretended to put on each piece of God's armor. They would start with the belt of truth, then put on their breastplate of righteousness, and so on (Ephesians 6:10-18).
The belt of truth assures us we are God's children (1 John 3:1). Every spiritual battle begins with truth; it's the rock we must stand on. If we don't know God's truth, we’ll never defeat the enemy. In John 17, Jesus told us that God’s Word is His truth (John 17:17). God set apart, purifies, and transforms His "soldiers" (us) by the truth of His Word.
But we all have doubts, so we occasionally need to be reminded that we are His precious children. Even when we are wearing God's armor, Satan will try to find the gaps in our armor and attack our identity. His goal is to discourage us, and he hopes that we have forgotten who we are in Christ.
No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. 2 Timothy 2:4
2 Timothy 2:4 calls us soldiers, and it reminds us we can't get distracted by the world. We must always go into battle prepared, and the best way to do that is to put on the full armor of God. That verse also calls us God's soldiers, and it says we must be intentional about pleasing our commanding officer. How do we do that? By reflecting our Heavenly Father's nature and character in our lives.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” Ephesians 6:12
If the battle is spiritual, then our weapons must be too! Most of our armor is made up of defensive weapons, and they are all designed to block and defeat Satan's attacks. But our best weapon might be our "sword" and it's the sword of God's Word!
Our sword is sharp and powerful, but we must "pick it up & wield it" if we want to be victorious!