Ephesians 6:14
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth...
The pieces to the whole armour of God require our close attention. We can be sure the Bible isn't a shallow book, and that every one of the pieces of this armour represents some spiritual guard that we need to be sure to keep. Every part of the body that is mentioned is some part of our spiritual life that needs to be protected. I found it interesting that every part that is being protected is ours and every piece of armour is His. This is also true of soldiers in any army. The captain's issue armour to protect the ones who have enlisted. Be sure He hasn't instructed you to put on this armour without providing this armour. Truth belongs to Him, but it has been issued to us in the scripture, Righteousness is His and has been issued to the ones carrying the Blood washed Banner. Leave your filthy rags of righteousness[Isaiah 64:6] at home, they will never do. The Gospel that we shod our feet with has also been given to us by Him. We have received a heavenly issue of armour to guard our hearts, minds, and vital organs in this spiritual warfare.
The first area of protection mentioned is the loins, this speaks not only of the reproductive area but of the whole waist area, from the lower back and abdomen down to the reproductive area. This is the area of our body where our organs are housed. It is no coincidence that Paul is working from the inner parts to the outer, from the bowels to the heart to the feet. The loins, I believe, are representative of our emotions, when the Bible was being written and in many ancient societies, the seat of emotion was believed to be held in the stomach or bowels. The loins either spoke of fear:
Daniel 5:6
6 Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
Psalms 69:23
23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake. (KJV)
Isaiah 21:3-4
3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. 4 My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me. (KJV)
Or they spoke of strength:
Job 38:3
3 Gird up now thy loins like a man;
for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. (KJV)
Job 40:16
16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins,
and his force is in the navel of his belly. (KJV)
Proverbs 31:17
17 She girdeth her loins with strength,
and strengtheneth her arms. (KJV)
Nahum 2:1
1 He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face:
keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. (KJV)
Girding up the loins puts us in mind of a soldier strapping on a belt or girdle that would carry his sword. When the children of Israel took the first Passover meal in the land of Egypt they were commanded to do so with their loins girded and shoes on their feet[Exodus 12:11]. It speaks of being ready for the fight. Having our fears under control, controlling our emotions instead of being controlled by our emotions. Have you ever been so fearful that your stomach was hurting? This is the idea of keeping your loins girded and the reason that ancient cultures thought the seat of emotions was in the bowels/loins. We have millions of nerve ending in our stomachs and when we become afraid or distressed these nerves become inflamed and cause pain in the stomach and weakness. This is what has to be protected, how can you run to the battle with a "gut full of courage" if your emotions are controlled by fear, if your "loins are shaking" or if your loins are loosed" and your knees are knocking?" Fear is the first thing you'll have to overcome in this Christian warfare against spiritual wickedness. The only armour that can protect us from the fiery darts of fear that Satan hurls at us is truth. Have your loins gird about with truth. Strengthen yourself with the truths of God's word, that's the only thing that will take away your "yellow-belly" and give you a "gut full of courage." His truth strengthens us to the fight. Satan whispers "your unrighteous" but the truth of God's word silences Satan with "This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." Satan throws his fiery dart of doubt, calling into question my salvation but the truth of God strengthens me to the fight; "for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."
The truth will make you free, free from fear, fear from doubt, free from error. What a wonderful tool that has been issued to us! Truth girds up or strengthens us to the fight and absolute truth is found exclusively in His word. Rest assured that we have been issued 66 books of truth. Don't let Satan call into question its validity but stand therefore having your loins gird about with truth!
The other more obvious aspect of the loins is the reproductive qualities that are there. This one needs little explanation. It should be the desire of every Christian soldier to reproduce more believers, we are not capable of doing this ourselves, but it is the truths of God's word that are sown in the hearts of men that find fertile hearts of faith that will trust the truth preached to them. In the reproduction of life, there is the seed sown and there is seed received, this is true of most organic life, humans, animals and even plant life. The same comparison is made by our Savior in His parable of the sower in Matthew 13. The seed that was sown was the truth of God's word, the ground was the hearts of men. The vitality of our Christian reproduction is dependant upon two things, the seed we are sowing and the hearts that are receiving. We can rest assured that if what we are preaching isn't truthful then it doesn't matter the quality of soil that is being sown in. You may find the most fertile soil on earth but if the seed is spoiled then there will be no harvest. Having your loins gird about with truth ensures that what you sow is good seed, the harvest may still be slack in the field you sow, but you can rest knowing that the error is on the part of the hearer and not the sower/preacher. The soldier straps the girdle around his loins that holds his sword[The Word of God/Truth] and the sower straps on the seed bag that he will cast the seed from.
We sowed several acres of wheat every fall when I was a boy. My grandfather would prepare the ground and buy the seed that he wanted planting, he would then instruct me on the mixture of seed that he wanted. We would put the wheat with the rape and rye and whatever other grasses that he wanted for his green fields. He would get on the tractor and break up the fallowed ground, running the plow deep into the soil. The soil that seemed dry and dead would begin to roll of the plows and become dark and moist, and the smell of fresh soil would fill the valley. After the field was prepared to his liking me and him would strap on our seed bags and begin to sow on the freshly turned soil.
Christian soldier, God is preparing the field He wants you to sow in, at work he has been plowing the heart of some co-worker. The plow of affliction has been laid deep into the heart of a man who used to seem so cold and hard but God has broken up the fallowed ground in that man's heart, please don't sow bad seed on the ground God has worked so hard to prepare, strap on the seed bag of God's word and share with Him the true Gospel. Put line upon line, precept upon precept, and sow. You'll be amazed at what will happen if you'll sow. The fields of my childhood would be dead and dry when we started our work, then in a month you would see a blanket of bright green grass covering the field, then in the 3 months, you would see a field vibrant with life, deer, turkeys and all sorts of wildlife from the dead cold forrest would fill the field. Sow the word of God and watch the cold dead fields of people around you become beacons of life and light.
Ecclesiastes 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth"
Onward Christian Soldiers!!