“Accept Salvation as a helmet”
Ephesians 6:17
As a continuation of my last blog post-https://ngozibe.com/our-minds-the-driver/, our minds drive all our thoughts, both good and bad. So, we must take control of it with the helmet of salvation.
A helmet protects our heads from any injury or damage to the brain. Since the brain is the control unit of the mind and the rest of the body, any damage to it will affect our minds. Therefore, the helmet of salvation protects us from any strike by the enemy. The mind is usually the first place the enemy strikes using lies, deceit, manipulation, telling us what we can and cannot do, etc. This attack can happen anywhere- it could be at work, home, playground, store, school, in the form of bullying, especially for our children.
As soon as we start entertaining these negative talks, it starts sinking in. Gradually, it will begin affecting our everyday mood, which leads to constant fear, depression, loneliness, sadness, low self-esteem, suicidal ideation, to name a few (that is the enemy’s plan). Jesus said in John 10:10, “the thief (enemy) comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.”
Remember, no one has seen the devil face-to-face (at least I have not), yet he constantly attacks. He uses vulnerable people to achieve his purpose. If we stay vulnerable as well, he will find it easy to get in and settle. Honestly, those negative talks sting, and it might knock us down for a moment, but staying down is not an option if we want to win this battle. So we have to get back up with the scripture and constant prayers.
Whatever negative talk other people say about me does not matter because they did not bring forth my existence and cannot tell me who I am. Instead, I focus on who God says I am.
We cannot focus on God’s words if we do not read and meditate on them. It is alive and active and tells us how blessed, beautiful, and deeply loved we all are.
The way the world is going, there are so many things that seem to threaten our happiness, but we cannot let those things keep us in constant fear. Anything that causes me to stay in constant fear is not of God because God did not give me a spirit of fear. Therefore, with power, love, and self-control made available to me by God, I must work to conquer it.
We must know and teach our children the importance of having self-confidence using the scripture. It can be viewed here- https://ngozibe.com/who-god-says-i-am/.
It can be written down, printed out, and put in a visible place for them, and it could be part of an everyday declaration. I shared that with my children, and every now and then, we revisit them. These declarations will help flush out the negatives.
Salvation is a gift given to us by God. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “it is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift, so that no one can boast about it.” Therefore, we all (young and old) need to wear the helmet of salvation constantly because it is a constant reminder of the power of the cross – that we have been saved, redeemed, and renewed by God’s grace. This constant hope of salvation will protect us all from the devil’s evil schemes.
The helmet of salvation has to be tight and secure on our heads at all times. The question is, how do we keep it tight and functioning?
We have to renew our minds every day with the scripture and stay in constant prayers. We must confess our sins, believe in God’s words, and live it out. So my declaration every morning with the family is that we will have a wonderful day, ON PURPOSE. This means that no matter how the day starts or what someone says about us at work or school, we will remind ourselves that we chose to have a wonderful day, and no one or thing will change that.
The bible says in Philippians 4:8, “fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise, things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.” We cannot go wrong with these.
As parents, we have to help our children create these beautiful memories to look back on when they are grown. We have to trust that God will protect and guide them, and they will hold on to the solid teachings that we gave them (if children are older) or are giving them now (for our little children). We must continue to do our best and leave the rest to God, especially when they are all grown and out of the house.
I usually go over videos and pictures of when they were younger, and quite a few of them make them laugh uncontrollably. These especially are the ones I save as favorites and share occasionally. I do this because I always tell them to think of something that makes them laugh whenever they get angry, and hopefully, that will lead to a little crack of smile and eventually laugh. The goal is not to let that anger linger past a day.
Sometimes, the source of the anger needs to be confronted (by confronted, I do not mean fight), and we need to be in a state of calm to reason and find the right words to say.
Being angry is normal, but the difference lies in what we do with anger.
As part of creating beautiful memories for our children, we (myself and my husband) have some days to play their favorite games (Roblox, Fortnite) with them. Even though we still do not understand the game till today, most importantly, we see the amount of joy and happiness they have taking turns teaching us the game’s rules. In addition, they created our profiles with an avatar. It is a beautiful feeling.
Also crucial is creating a friendly environment where the children are free to talk to us about anything. It is not good to go through phases of loneliness or depression alone. We need to speak to someone that we trust.
We have one-on-one sessions in a separate room for each child to talk to me about anything, no matter how silly it might sound to me. As long as it is important to them and they feel they need to talk about it, I give them a listening ear and pray afterward. We (young and old) need to control our minds/thoughts and not let the thoughts hold us hostage. The enemy is a loser and will continue to lose as long as we are in control in the name of Jesus.
So, it does not matter what other people say, think, or do. All that matters is what the scripture says.
Let us continue to wear that helmet of salvation and continue to resist the devil and his evil tricks, lies, and deceit. Remember that once the head is damaged, it affects the whole being. We need a sound mind to keep fighting in this worldly battlefield. So, let us all use the scripture and regain/renew our sound minds.
May God bless us all as we keep fighting. We already have the victory in Christ.
Ngozi