The most effective piece of armor to be used against any enemy is the warrior’s sword. Unfortunately, for most Christians, I would daresay this is the one piece of armor that is rarely used, and if used, used effectively. Truly, the sword for the Christian Warrior is to be that of “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” But for most of us, we do not know what this means?
In the last posts, A Warrior’s Sword and A Warrior’s Sword-The Handle, we opened the discussion by opening Ephesians 6 and discussing the sword as part of the armor. In spiritual warfare, the enemy is at our doorstep. For those of us who are Christian Husbands or Christian Fathers, this war is a daily one. Again, as we explore this passage, we have to remember that when Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians, especially the passage we are discussing, Ephesians 6:10-20, war was a bit more personal. So we have discussed the sword and the handle, let’s move on to the guard.
Every sword had a portion of it right above the handle referred to as the guard. There are a multitude of styles of the guard, but each of them served a major function for the warrior. In personal, hand to hand combat, the warrior was incredibly exposed to injury from all angles and the guard of the sword was critical for protecting the warrior’s hands. If your only weapon was the sword, an injury to your hand could be life threatening.
The same is true with God’s Word. If we truly understand the meaning and importance of the handle, we will spend more time in the Word daily. Just as the Word can prove to be an attack on evil, it is also our guard against the attacks of Satan.
We use what Christ teaches us through His Holy Word as a baseline for decision making. For those who are lost or without Christ, the whole idea of right and wrong can be greatly affected by the world. If you were to look over various generations, the views of what was “wrong” or “unthinkable” has changed with the passing of year. On the contrary, those who spend time in the Word of God, this baseline of decision making has little “wiggle room.” Decisions made cannot be simply reasoned away, but rather, have to balance with what we are told in Scripture.
Scripture is also our guard for when we are under spiritual attack. I know personally, when worry and anxiety overcome me, I reflect upon Phil 4:4, “Be anxious for nothing.” When I feel the need to speak my mind, I am reminded of the Scripture verses that speak to the danger of a loose tongue. As a warrior, it is vital for me to keep my mind guarded against the schemes of Satan and the tricks of this world.
If I do not spend time training myself, I will be weak against what the world tells me is right. The beauty of Scripture is the way it permeates through every aspect of our lives when we devote time to His Holy Word. If we spend the appropriate amount of time learning how to use our weapon, the powerful nature of the Word is it will also serve as a guard against our enemy’s attacks.
If you would like more on the Christian Sword, check out the series of post covering the uses of Scripture in the daily life of every Christian Warrior.
The Blade
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About the Writer:
Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. He currently works for SourcePointe, an HR Outsourcing Agency while continuing to own and operate Christian Management Consulting as a ministry. In his free time, he also writes a lot on Church Development as a Church Consultant.
As a husband and father of three, Trent Cotton has a passion surrounding the role Christian Men are to play in their families, communities, churches and businesses. This particular blog is dedicated to helping men take back the role that we have lost in society.



The most effective piece of armor to be used against any enemy is the warrior’s sword. Unfortunately, for most Christians, I would daresay this is the one piece of armor that is rarely used, and if used, used effectively. Truly, the sword for the
When I think of how long I carried the unneeded weight of this burden, I immediately begin thanking Christ for what He did for me on the cross, and for what He continues to do in my life.
He was seventeen years old. He was a shepherd. He did not participate in his brothers’ misconducts. In fact, he brought reports of their mischief to his father. He was the favorite of Jacob. Jacob loved him more than all his brothers. Jacob made a coat of many colors for him. His brothers hated him for this reason and could not even talk with him well.
Letting go in the mental category! Now that’s not quite as simple as the physical category! It’s really easy to retain the negative in life. Let’s face it the whole world lives in the negative. Television is basically negative look at most shows. There’s plenty of murder, sarcastic humor, and sadness. Commercials basically try to motivate the buyer by fear. You need to get the flu shot now or you may die or get sick with out it. Fear runs rampant in our society. The news is basically depressing and sad; there is very little good news to be found on the major networks, in the newspapers and on the radio.


The Jews boasted in this sign of their covenant with God. They acknowledge God’s covenant with them, but did not honor it with their actions. Interestingly, uncircumcision is defined as the equivalent of being a Gentile (which greatly offended most Jews most likely). Uncircumcision is also described as a condition in which the corrupt desires rooted in the flesh were not yet extinct. Paul is addressing those who “appear” to be Christians, yet their lives still show a lot of “fleshy” desires.
Let’s face it, if you are a part of a men’s Bible Study, the last subject you would expect to have would be one on circumcision. Unfortunately, when covering a book in the Bible in sequential order, you have to discuss some topics you would normally just skip over. If you cover any of the epistles, chances are, you will come across the great debate of the time, “circumcision vs. no circumcision.”