When you join the army, one of the first things you are given is a pair of combat boots. You see, what is on your feet is very important because it protects you in so many ways. It protects your feet from the hot and cold around you. It protects your feet from the terrain underneath you. It protects your feet from injury in the midst of combat. And it protects your feet from slipping in moments of action. So, a soldier’s footwear is a crucial piece of the armor that he puts on. A soldier in his combat boots is ready for battle!

As we continue walking through the armor of God that the Holy Spirit encourages us to put on amid spiritual combat, we come to the boots of the gospel of peace. The gospel is often associated with our feet because we are to go and make disciples of all nations. As we travel about life, our feet take us there, and we share the good news of Jesus Christ, win people to Christ, and disciple them. As Apostle Paul reminded us in Romans 10:15, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

We always have to be ready to deploy the gospel into any spiritual battle. Why? Because it is the gospel of peace. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ, you can have three aspects of peace:  peace with God, peace within yourself, and peace with man. In that spiritual battle where the devil reminds you of all your sin against God, bring to bear the gospel of peace to protect your from that lie. You’ve been forgiven. When your anxiety gets all stirred up, bring the gospel of peace to bear to remind yourself that you are safe in the Father’s hands. When the devil stirs up enmity between you and another person, the gospel of peace can extinguish that strife because he who has been forgiven much forgives much. Wherever the gospel of Jesus is brought to bear and received, peace is the result.

Like combat boots, put on the gospel of peace to win that spiritual battle. Change begins in you!

Change begins in you!