Know Your Kit: The Belt of Truth

Verse: Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Ephesians 6:14

Belts are an important yet underrated piece of kit. It wasn’t really until my deployment to Afghanistan that I started using a battle belt. A battle belt is a belt with mollie attachments so that you can run extra mags, grenades, med kit, really anything that you don’t want immediately on your plate carrier.

Though this is not what belts were specifically used for with Roman warriors, there is one story that relates. On my first patrol in Afghanistan, I had too much on my battle belt, especially in the back. As we were walking o our patrol my belt started to slip down my butt, or lack thereof. For half the patrol I was pulling up my belt, luckily we did not receive contact or I probably would have had to drop it. I put clips on it and lightened the medkit as soon as we got back, but not after getting chewed out by the Platoon Sergeant.

In Roman times men wore tunics or man dresses, just like in the middle east today. They would wear a belt or sash so that they could tuck in the tunic so that it would not get in the way in hand-to-hand combat. They did not want to have loose clothing so that they wouldn’t get caught, get grabbed, or obstruct their movement (kind of like my belt on that patrol).

The belt also had all the soldier’s campaigns and awards. It held their sword and weapons. When a soldier put on his belt, it was time for battle. We all had a thing on our deployment where when you did it, you knew it was time. For me, in night ops it was when we flipped down our NODS, and day it was when I locked and loaded my M4 or M110 on Sniper Ops. It was the belt for Roman soldiers that showed they were prepared.

We need to have an attitude and life of the truth. Our lives are marked with truthfulness so that we are ready for battle. That we are ready to win. This is a life that has brought in all the loose ends that could easily be ensnared by sin. A life that keeps things tight and aligned with the truth.

In the spiritual battle, the enemy will grab onto the loose ends of our lives and bring us to the ground. In order to stand firm for Christ, find those sins that easily trip you up and commit them to God. Tighten them up with the truth and live a way that the evil one cannot easily knock you off.

Written By,

John Cooper

Godly Grunts 6