Christmas is only a few days away and I bet you’ve been preparing to give a few gifts. Planning and budgeting for gifts this time of year can be stressful. With that in mind, I hope you can take a few moments to let the word of God rejuvenate your soul and that it becomes a special gift to you today.

Christmas is most definitely the season of gift giving. We stress about the perfect gift for those we love. But let’s remember the ultimate gift given by the ultimate gift-giver—Christ on the cross. Most amazing gift ever given. And even more amazing is that it keeps on giving—every day…every year.

What does this gift teach us? It teaches us “active faith”. Jesus believed what his father God told him—his sacrifice would save people from sin and death and usher them into eternity—and he obeyed. Hence, the ultimate gift.

With that as our blueprint, what is our personal lesson? To be a person of action by activating faith in our own lives.

This week we are looking at the fourth piece of armor from Ephesians 6:13-18. It is the shield of faith. But how do we use our faith as a shield?

Historically, the Roman soldiers used a shield that was very large. In fact, it spanned almost the entire length of their body standing up. In form and function, it was heavy, sturdy and strong. Its purpose was to provide full coverage and protect them from the fiery arrows hurled at them by enemy attack.

In Scripture, Paul instructs us to use our faith as a shield of protection against the very real and focused attacks of our enemy. Spiritually speaking, fiery arrows come in all shapes and sizes: fear, insecurity, temptation, guilt, doubt, anxiety, and more. And our faith, when activated in belief, will also prove to be sturdy and strong.

Faith, first and foremost, is active. It is belief in action. What you believe to be true about God and what he says in his word will be tested at various points in our journey. And our faith becomes an adventure when we choose to act on our belief even when we can’t be sure of the outcome.

Some days we don’t have a care in the world only to wake up the next day under siege and fighting for any stitch of sanity. This is where our shield of faith comes into play.

The first three pieces of armor—belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, and shoes of peace—are parts of a uniform to be worn at all times. The shield of faith is different in that it is more of a tool to be used for a specific purpose when under an active attack.

We are instructed to “take up” our shield of faith to extinguish flaming arrows from the enemy.

So when we activate our faith by using it to fight against the insecurity or fear or whatever it is that taunts you to give up, that is success. That is faith.

Faith is powerful. And faith can be our most amazing adventure. Walking in faith heightens the senses and causes us to grow from the inside out. We see things differently, feel things differently, and experience things differently.

Have you had a faith adventure lately?

I’m encouraging you to be a woman of faith this week. Choose to push past any fear or doubt that paralyzes you, and instead, follow God where he is leading, trusting him to show you the way as you go.

Reflect and Respond:

What area of your life is God asking you to step out in faith? Pray first about what kind of faith step you can take, then wait for confirmation. Once you have the wisdom to proceed, take that step and enter into the faith adventure.

Remember, you are not alone. Be blessed as you act in faith this week.