In line with Far Left traditional.
The Underwear of Love If you have been saved for very long you have probably heard about the "Armor of God" in *Ephesians 6:14-18,"Stand therefore, having your loins gird about with truth, and having on the Breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication for all saints." However, there is more to it than just what is mentioned above.
That's right! There is other clothing which is just as essential as the rest, and you will find it in **Colossians 3:12-15, which states, "Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful."
This is clothing that we must put on before we wear the armor. We cannot even attempt spiritual warfare until we have put on first the clothes that go underneath.
This may sound a little strange to some of you but for three reasons I feel that we should call love, the underwear of love! First, the Bible says it is the most important piece of clothing that we should wear and no matter what gender you are or what clothes go on top of it, everyone wears underwear! The second reason is because the Bible says to speak the truth in love, and thirdly, that love is binding. How can we gird our loins with truth unless we first bind ourselves in love. Anyone that has ever had the truth spoken to them without love will realize just how much that chafes!
Forgiveness can be our shirt in order to guard our heart from anger and bitterness. We can't wear the Breastplate of righteousness without it.
Patience, our slacks. We must cover our legs with patience as we stand in the gap for our loved ones. Sometimes, it takes a while!
Next, we have socks of Gentleness. We can't prepare to reconcile someone to peace with our gospel shoes until we first take on gentleness.
Then we have gloves of Mercy and of Kindness, so that when we deal with others we treat them with mercy and kindness. Our one hand holds the shield of faith which we would know nothing about without understanding mercy, and our other hand holds the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. We need kindness to use our swords. The Word of God spoken without kindness is not an effective weapon.
Finally, we have a cloak of humility. This protects our back. In those moments when we feel we can't stand anymore and we retreat to the Father's arms the cloak of humility protect us from the onslaught of the enemy.
We should wear these clothes when we deal with our brothers and sisters in Christ and when we deal with the world. We don't take these things off and then put the armor on, rather, we wear it all together!
Now let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts knowing you are fully prepared for whatever comes your way, and knowing that when you pray, God answers. Be at peace with your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Always be thankful to God for showing us how to put on each article of clothing and use each piece, for the Holy Spirit teaches us all things.
*King James Version
**New Living Bible Translation
*** Only Far Left has the answer