Protect your heart with righteousness!

"...righteousness is your breastplate." (Ephesians 6:14 NIV) 

Does that immediately resonate with you, friend?

I had an unfriendly encounter recently that opened my eyes to this. I was looking forward to going to a particular restaurant on Sunday. But before I could even sit down, the owner shouted at me, "Will you be leaving in an hour?" I found that rather unfriendly; it hurt me.

In moments like these, friend, you have two options. You can let yourself be hurt or kindly address what just happened. And I want to explain to you here what that has to do with the breastplate of righteousness…

The main function of a breastplate was to protect the wearer's body from stab and cut wounds. Similarly, we must equip ourselves daily with a breastplate that doesn't allow the wounds of everyday life to pierce our hearts.

So when the Bible says, "...righteousness is your breastplate," (Ephesians 6:14 NIV) it means that you can protect yourself from these attacks by standing up for righteousness. You can say, "Stop!"

So, I spoke to the restaurant owner and said, "Do you know how this comes across to me as a guest? As if I'm not welcome here." In doing so, I advocated for myself (righteousness) and gave the owner the opportunity to explain her perspective and apologize.

This is how you quickly break the cycle of hurt. Because, thanks to the breastplate of righteousness (speaking up), those hurts cannot reach your heart.

friend, where have you let attacks penetrate your heart because you remained silent and did not speak up—with all love—about the incident? Perhaps today, you need to pick up the phone because your heavenly breastplate can still set you free retroactively...

You have the right to speak up for yourself and will thus break a dangerous cycle!

You are a miracle!