I loathe clothes shopping. There. I said it. I just don’t like it. Now that’s not to say that I don’t enjoy watching fashion trends. Nor does it signify that I may or may not have a <few> clothing boards on Pinterest. But I don’t particularly love shopping for clothes. I’ve never been a huge fan and lately I’ve just quit altogether.

Now I could bemoan that I’m sitting smack dab in the middle of #momlifeand have officially psychologically succumbed to the dreaded mom-look (which I totally have btw!). But I think the truer culprit lays within the solid brick wall that my metabolism has hit. I do mean withIN too… I’m pretty sure my metabolism was plugging right along just fine minding its own business then smacked head-on into some (invisible) solid wall (aka my 40s) and is laying is pieces within the wall somewhere.

Gone are the days of eating whatever I wanted without gaining weight. I’ve lost muscle mass and things that usually would be no issue for me are starting to task my body in ways they shouldn’t. My caloric intake and energy levels have inversely intensified, and my waist line in particular is starting to daily remind me that I’m officially middle-aged.

Ugh.

It’s been a while in coming but not fitting easily into a beloved pair of jeans the other day has me re-evaluating some of my habits. I’m going to have to buckle down. I’m going to have to learn better discipline in my eating and exercise. It’s just a necessary thing now. What used to be easy, a no-brainer, now requires a lot more attention and modification. I don’t like it but it is what it is.

In the middle of my unflattering calisthenics trying to get those stupid (amazing!) jeans on it occurred to me that this slow transformation in body is so akin to what a slow descent into spiritual laziness can bring about in regards to our Biblical clothing- specifically the armor of God. Just like a lack of exercise brings a myriad of physical issues, so also can spiritual laziness produce a lot of unwelcome results.

All of a sudden our shield of faith feels heavier than it should. What once would have been easy to trust God for is now an insurmountable mountain instead. And we fail to lift that heavy shield.

The belt of truth, because we aren’t Bibilcally ‘fit’, becomes just a bit too tight to properly clasp so we leave it behind and find a more ‘comfortable’ truth to gird ourselves with instead. We exchange healthy, actual truth for easy, fast-food ‘truth’- processed and full of unhealthy ingredients- until we can’t tell the difference between the two anymore. We may even crave the addictive and easy false-truth! And thus the belt, meant to hold the entire system up… becomes completely unwearble.

Those boots that should spur us towards the ends of the earth with the Gospel of peace bring blisters and open sores due to misuse or neglect. Unlike a great pair of running shoes that have been broken in through miles of exercise, our Gospel shoes lay within the recesses of our spiritual closets- unused, ill-fitting, or worse… bought because they looked good but have never been worn.

Or perhaps we find ourselves in the middle of battle, desperately needing our Sword of the Spirit for the attacks that keep coming. But alas our arms are too weak to hold our only offensive spiritual weapon. We are clumsy in our sparring. We grow tired quickly with the exertion. The handle feels strange in our hand and blisters to our hands. The blade, though sharp enough to separate bone and marrow, becomes an unwieldy weapon that too often wounds the wrong side- and all because we don’t have any practice with it. We don’t know the Word so we can’t wield the Sword.

The parallels are really quite striking. Spiritual laziness, Biblical ‘dieting’, religious gorging… whatever the issue may be- can result in ill-fitting armor. A fat, unskilled, out-of-shape soldier is little good to anyone and a flat-out hinderance and impediment to her fellow soldiers.

Dear ones, we spend so much time, money, and attention trying to look good and be healthy. Whether through diets, exercise equipment, gyms, pills… you name it, we spend a LOT of energy in fitting into (or worrying that we’re NOT fitting into) clothes.

But I challenge us all to spend just as much time, money, and attention trying on our armor of God for size.

How’s it feel sis?

What needs adjustment, polishing, practice?

Does it fit? Is it comfortable? Can you move and breathe in it?

Bring in your best friend or the husband to the proverbial dressing room and ask how your armor looks on you.

You do all this in real life with physical clothes… try it on for size now with your eternal ones.

“Embrace the power of salvation’s full deliverance, like a helmet to protect your thoughts from lies. And take the mighty razor-sharp Spirit-sword of the spoken Word of God. Pray passionately in the Spirit, as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times. Pray the blessings of God upon all his believers. Because of this, you must wear all the armor that God provides so you’re protected as you confront the slanderer, for you are destined for all things and will rise victorious. Put on truth as a belt to strengthen you to stand in triumph. Put on holiness as the protective armor that covers your heart. Stand on your feet alert, then you’ll always be ready to share the blessings of peace. In every battle, take faith as your wrap-around shield, for it is able to extinguish the blazing arrows coming at you from the Evil One!”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:13-18‬ ‭TPT‬‬