The Breastplate of Righteousness is part 3 of 7 of the series on the Armor of God. The enemy draws you ever inward and away from a relationship with God. Hardness of heart is not a Breastplate of Righteousness but a breastplate of self. How do you guard your heart? To be vulnerable to love requires surrender – not to sin but to the imperfections of others. Let God be the perfection of love. To say “God loves me and so it doesn’t matter what I do or say” shows not reliance on God but a testing of God’s gift of free will. What are some ways that we can spot that we are in the midst of a “spiritual attack”? In this episode we are reminded of the overall use of spiritual warfare-- defend, protect and destroy. We explore the righteousness of Jesus Christ and that the sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation deliver His righteousness to us. We are reminded that Baptism remains always. We also see that the enemy longs for you to deny and reject it--the only way it can be penetrated. Praising God “polishes” the Breastplate of Righteousness and Reconciliation removes the filth that accumulates so that it does not become so burdened with sin that you want to remove it because of its heaviness. When caked with personal sin and bitterness it seems to be the problem instead of the solution. And we talk about the many benefits of guarding your heart with the Breastplate of Righteousness.
