Pentecost is coming up. This is the birthday of the Church, and a celebration of the Holy Spirit coming to dwell in God’s people.
During this time, I like to highlight and explore a function of the Holy Spirit with my littles. Last year, we explored The Fruit of the Spirit and had such a fun time learning how the fruit is what God is like, and the Holy Spirit works to make us more like him.
This year, we are going to be exploring the Armor of God. This is spiritual armor the Holy Spirit equips us with to fight a spiritual enemy.
There are so many fantastic resources on the market to explore this topic, that reach a variety of ages and stages. Below, I’m sharing what we’ll he using in our home. Come pray n’ play with us!
What is the Armor of God?
Last month we explored the topic of ‘New Life’ or New Creation. The hope of the Gospel is through Christ’s death and Resurrection, everything is being made right in the world. Made the way it should be. The way it was supposed to be in the beginning. And that includes you and me. When we declare the Jesus is King of the whole world, and we want to be apart of his good work, believing that he us making all things right in the world, we become apart of this new creation. A new humanity.
When Paul is talking about the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18), he is referencing the Armor that God himself uses in Isaiah 59 to make the world right. He is also using language from Isaiah 11 to reference the armor the Messiah uses to bring justice to the land. In the Bible Project Classroom Tim Mackie points us to these references showing that when Paul challenges the church to put on the Armor of God, he is challenging us to put on the character of Christ as the new humans, made to care for a world being restored.
The Armor is the Character of God in our lives, used to defend and resist a spiritual, unseen enemy. Other humans….other image bearers…are not the enemy. That is maybe the biggest hurdle to overcome in spiritual battle. Recognizing that none of us are the enemy. Instead we fight against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12) .
A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. [12] For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. [13] Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. [14] Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. [15] For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. [16] In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. [17] Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. [18] Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
-Ephesians 6:10-18
-I highly recommend giving the whole lesson a watch: The Armor of God (Bible Project Classroom
-For those who like Group Bible Studies, Priscilla Shirer also has an Armor of God Study that touches on this.
Exploring the Armor of God with Kids
The Armor of God can kinda be a tricky topic to discuss with kids. It’s an invisible armor, used to fight an unseen enemy. And depending on our own history and background, aggressive military imagery can still a wide range of feelings. It can almost feel like a contradiction to the way of peace Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount.
I think it’s important to take this topic in ages and stages. Like many part of the Bible, the way I talk with my 8 year-old will be different than the way I talk with my 3 year-old. That’s not only ok, it’s appropriate.
3-6 Year-olds: What is the Armor
At this stage we are focusing on what the armor is. It’s an invisible armor from God that helps us fight an unseen enemy. Christ-Centered Motherhood has a fantastic shine-a-light activity to illustrate this concept. –Armor of God Flashlight Activity Page. The armor is with us always, because it’s the Holy Spiriy living in us. We can’t see it, but when we walk with Jesus it is there.
In addition, the armor doesn’t require violence to be used. I think this is such an important thing to note with littles. Esau McCaulley’s book, Andy Johnson and the March for Justice does such a fantastic job of showing how we use the Armor resist principalities and powers, using creative non-violence. Andy is playing sword fights when his dad points him to the Spiritual Weapons God has given us to fight our unseen, but very real enemy. We follow Andy as he trades in toy swords, for locking arms with his community and resisting injustice. We’ll be adding a little bookish play to this one by making pool noodle swords. Just like Andy, may we remember the Sword of the Spirit.
Just for fun, we’ll also be including some Armor of God Go-Fish and Armor of God Paper dolls into our playtime.
Ages 6-10: Who is our Enemy?
One of the hardest parts of explaining the Armor to children is helping them realize the enemy is not physical. It’s not the people in our lives. It’s a hidden enemy, needing special armor to combat.
My big kids and I are going to be reading through the Dragon Slayers Study. I love that this study helps kids understand what the Armor is for, framing the struggles (or enemy)they deal with as ‘Dragons.’ Which is not so far off from what the original idea from the Biblical idea of Chaos Monsters. Our battle ‘is not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities’ or metaphorical Dragons the armor can help us over come. It also points kids to Dragon Slayers (Christians) from history that have fought the dragons, giving them spiritual role models. The Dragon Slayers website has free supplemental resources to aid children in memorizing the Armor, and praying it over themselves.
Songs for Memorization
For those seeking to memorize the Armor of God, I highly recommend these songs. Music makes scripture super sticky, letting it seep down in the heart where just words can’t reach.
Spanish: ‘La Armadura’ by Pequeños Heroes/ Generacion 12 Kids
Pequeños Heroes tends to be a staple around here. There songs are fun, and all my kids love to sing along.
English: ‘Armour of God’ by CCBD Kids
We love the scripture song from CCBC Kids. Their music makes scripture easy to memorize.
Baby Devotions 