Shoes – Gospel of Peace Part 3

¹³Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 

Ephesians 6:13-15 (ESV)

Yesterday we started exploring three ways that we can maintain the shoes of peace and walk in the peace of God. If you missed yesterday’s post about seeking peace with God, I encourage you to check it out here.

Today, let’s take a look at keeping the laces of the shoes of peace tight by seeking peace with ourselves.

Now, you may be thinking, peace with ourselves? What an odd thing to say!

But sweet friends, we are all of us caught up in the war of good and evil and our hearts and minds are prime battleground. As believers in Christ, we have redeemed spirits in unredeemed flesh.

Because we love God and we believe His commandments are right, we try really hard to obey, but sometimes because of our flesh we still disobey; we still sin. We know that it is wrong to actively sin that we have grieved God and that creates guilt and shame and conflict in our hearts and minds.

There can be no peace in our hearts or minds when we have active sin in our lives.

But God – how I love those words – God says that we don’t have to be at war with ourselves.

1 John 1:9 tells us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

What’s one way to seek peace with ourselves?

It’s the same as how we keep peace with God. Repent.

Confess your wrong thinking or wrong deeds to God, agree that His way of thinking or doing is the right way, and turn around 180 degrees from what you were thinking or doing and follow God’s way instead.

What’s another way to seek with ourselves?

Accept God’s forgiveness and move on.

God’s Word is really clear that when we confess our sin and repent, God forgives and forgets our sin. He removes our sin as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). He casts our sin into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19). He blots out the record of sin against us (Acts 3:19).

Dear heart, God forgives and forgets, so why oh why do we drag those feelings of guilt and shame back up in the dead of night? Why do we sabotage ourselves, holding ourselves back from God’s call or His blessings, punishing ourselves for sins we have repented of, sins that God has forgiven and forgotten?

I confess to you, the devil has laid me low many times on sleepless nights and down long stretches of uneventful highway. I have a long track record of holding onto guilt and shame and holding myself back from God’s love and grace. I have let the devil win more battles in my heart and mind than I can count. It is only in the past few months that the frequent reminders of God’s truth from a grace-filled Brother have led me to accept God’s forgiveness, grace, and love more readily and to fight off the devil’s late night accusations with God’s truth. I’m not perfect at it by any means, but I am progressing and that is what we are called to do (Philippians 3:12-14).

Throughout this series, we’ve noted that the devil is our only true enemy, that he is our accuser, trying to convince God that we are not worth saving, that God should condemn us instead of give us grace (Revelation 12:10).

But the devil knows he can’t convince God to condemn us once we have accepted Christ as our Savior (Ephesians 1:7; John 3:16), so he starts trying to convince us instead.

Whether we had a sinful thought or deed or series of them ten minutes ago or ten years ago, the devil will drag your forgiven sin back up to torment you with it, to use it as evidence that God has not saved you, that you are not worth saving, not worth calling or gifting or using or any number of lies.

BUT GOD!

God has given us His Word to prove the devil’s evidence as false. God’s Word is perfect in every way and every word of His Word is true (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16).

Want to be at peace in your heart and mind?

Speak God’s Word to the devil, all of those verses above proving that God forgives and forgets when we confess and repent and watch the devil flee before them (James 4:7).

Beloved, you can have peace in your mind and in your heart. It’s a daily practice, tightening those laces on the shoes of peace. Daily we must ask God to search us and reveal our sin to us, confess our sin, repent of it (turn around and go God’s way), and then trust in God’s Word that it is forgiven and FORGOTTEN and move forward, sending the devil packing before the truth of God’s Word.

Today let’s internalize the verses about God’s forgiveness above and spend some time asking God to help us accept His forgiveness better and fight off the devil when he comes dragging things back up. Tomorrow, we’ll look at another way to keep the laces of the shoes of peace tight: seeking to be at peace with others.

To ensure you never miss a devotion, consider subscribing to email updates below.