Armor of God - Book of ActsSample

Belt of truth

Bible story: Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11)

The first piece of Armour mentioned in Ephesians chapter 6 is the belt of truth, something that would tie around the waist of the soldier and help hold the whole Armour together. The belt holds the Armour on the soldier, holds the sword in place, and is something the soldier would not even take off. In fact, if a soldier did not have the belt of truth, maybe even their clothing would fall down, and they would be embarrassed in front of everyone!

One part of truth is what comes out of our mouths. We should be Christians who only speak the truth, not lying to our parents or to God. But another part of the belt of truth is that we choose to believe God and His Word. The reality is that our enemy, the devil, is always trying to lie and manipulate us into believing things that are not true.

In today’s Bible story, Ananias and Sapphira believed a lie that it was not important if they were honest with the disciples. They pretended that they had sold their property for less money than what they actually received. They believed the enemy who made them think that God could not see them or did not know the details of the sale. But God does see everything. The disciples were representatives of God. Since they lied to the disciples, they lied to God. They hid the truth about their sale because they believed the lies the devil whispered into their ears. What lies are you believing that could cause your Armour to fall off?

It is important that we always wear the belt of truth by always telling the truth and by always believing the truth about God and His Word.

"I choose to live with honesty."

Questions:

1. If you are not being honest, what happens to your belt of truth? Will this affect other parts of your armor?

2. What is a specific situation where you are not 'lying' but you are not being 'honest'?

3. What is the result of lying?

4. How did Ananias and Saphira both tell the same story about the sale of their property even though they talked to Peter 3 hours apart?

5. Who did Ananias and Saphira lie to? When people lie today, who are they lying to?