The Whole Armor of God (Christian Soldier)

 Put on the whole Armor of God and be a faithful soldier for God.

Includes updated visuals and links to make your own armor.

Bible Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20. Paul starts by saying to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. The Roman Empire was the main world power during Paul’s time. Who are we fighting? Satan Who can help us fight him? God Paul compares armor to what we need to fight everyday temptations.

11.  Paul said that if you put on the WHOLE armor of God, then you CAN stand up against the devil and all the problems he will put in your way.  STAND up to do the job. You can be ready to fight and can keep a better watch if you are standing and looking!

photo @ Padfield (Used with permission)    

13. So, put on the whole armor so we can fight when we have to and when it’s over, we’re still standing. Think about Paul and all the soldiers that he had to deal with in his life. He had soldiers guarding him all time and it had to be on his mind. Just imagine Paul looking at them and thinking to himself…this piece protects this, and that piece does that…All the parts together help take care of the whole soldier!

14. Paul starts by saying to gird your waist with the belt of truth. Back in Paul’s time, the people wore long clothing, so if they were going to travel or do some work, they would bind the long parts of their clothes with a sash, or belt. That implies that they were ready to do tough work. We have some tough work for Jesus to do. So, put your belt on and get ready to do it! The truth is what? The Bible. Studying the Bible will hold us together like the belts did.

The second part of the armor Paul talks about is the breastplate. He calls it the breastplate of righteousness. He says to make sure you have it wrapped around your waist with truth. The Roman breastplate was made from metal and had rings like scales hooked together. It protected the soldiers vital body parts. They could move easily, but still be protected from attacks like arrows, knives, spears and swords. Righteousness means honesty and justice which is exactly what God expects.

15. Then he talks about the feet. Paul says to strap on your shoes with the gospel of peace. The Roman soldiers had leather shoes that had leg greaves. They could walk easily, but it was very hard to walk backwards. The shoes had hobnails (like football cleats) that were made from brass on the bottoms of their shoes. The greaves were made to fit from the knee down to the ankle.

We have peace from not worrying and knowing about Jesus. If you have shoes that are not made for the right job, you will limp along and not be able to keep up with what Jesus wants us to do.

16. But most of all: Take the shield of faith with you and you will be able to put out the fiery darts of the devil. They had 2 different kinds of shields. One type was round, and the other was tall. They held the shield on their left arm and that made it easy to move it in any direction to fight off danger. Our faith in Jesus and knowledge of the scriptures will help us fight off the things that Satan sends our way and tempts us to sin. (Explain the fiery darts [FFG printable at the end of lesson for this.])

17. Then Paul added to take the helmet of salvation. The soldier’s helmet was made from thick leather or brass, and it protected the head from any blows. Salvation is our protection from Satan if we use our head and study God's Word and do what He wants.

Don’t forget the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The Roman soldiers used a short sword so they could fight in close contact. It was also used to push back the enemy. When you study the Bible, you have the ability to push Satan away.

18. Paul reminds them to always pray and keep watch, like soldiers always do, until the end. 

Persevere, which means to persist or keep on being a Christian, no matter how hard it is, because Paul reminds us that even though he is a prisoner, he keeps preaching about Jesus and he stayed faithful.

photo @ Padfield (Used with permission)   

The Roman soldiers would put their shields together, like you see in the photo, and work together to fight the enemy. They could advance as a team and keep themselves safe.
And, if we as Christians work together to fight Satan, we can be a stronger force. By that, I mean, if we spend more time with our fellow church friends, attend worship like God tells us to, study the Bible and attend the extra functions that the Elders set up so we can spend time together, we can get strength together to fight Satan!

Click here to download the updated teacher's visuals.

The posters/Anchor Charts have been updated again!

I updated them with a cleaner look, easier on the printer and some graphics were updated.

 Click here to download.

Visual Aid: I will set up a display of Roman soldier armor. A Roman helmet and sword, kids' outfit, and a Roman shield. And, I have visuals of each piece for the lesson. And each student will have a workbook to do as I teach this lesson.

 

When we are finished with the lesson, everyone will try on the outfit and get their picture taken. I will print it, frame it and give it to them next week.

This is a fill in the blank worksheet for each part of the armor.

You can print it in color or black & white here:

Click here to print in Color       Click here to print in B/W

These do not have any words, just lines, for the students to fill in the armor part & description:
Click here to print in Color      Click here to print in B/W

 Click here to print the bookmarks.

 

You can print the dog tag labels also. You can purchase the dog tags at party stores, eBay or where kids party supplies are sold. I purchased these at Hobby Lobby with the 40% off coupon. You can print the labels, cut out, and then put them through a sticker maker. If you do not have a sticker maker, I would use the glue dots like you see in the first photo. Print the dog tags here.

Bible Verse: Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11 (NKJV)

File Folder Game printable after the Bible lesson.

 I made this file folder game as an effort to make something different. I haven't seen any FFG's to explain the fiery darts that Satan hurls at us so that elementary kids can understand it. This lesson usually addresses the parts of the soldier's uniform from Paul's letter, as it should, and there are a lot of ideas already online to use.

This FFG addresses the good and the bad that we have discussed in the last couple of lessons. I used words from Fruit of the Spirit and Bee Who Jesus Wants You to Bee! to discuss sin and what is good that God wants us to do. You can download the FFG here.

I also used this flannel board visual (instead of the FFG) to discuss the sins that Satan throws at us and that we fight daily. It is Betty Lukens Armor of God.

Click here to see and print this updated shield and more.

 

I made these shields from poster board. It is much easier and faster to cut them 'assembly line' style. By that I mean, I cut all the rectangles for the shields, the strips for the borders, the cross shapes, etc. and assembled them. Each shield is about 20 x 14.

First, I cut the red poster board in half down the center. Then, I cut about an inch off across the top, which will be used for one of the back straps for the students arm to hold the shield.

I rounded the corners of my shields off, but you can save a lot of work if you keep them square. Next, the trimmed the corners, and cut strips of the yellow poster board.

Yellow Poster Board:  I wanted the shield divided so the kids could add something to it for the month leading up to this lesson, so this is what I did. Obviously, the pattern on the shield is unlimited! For the center cross I cut the strips 1 1/2" long. The long vertical is 13" long (point to point) and the horizontal line is 10" (point to point).

The yellow strips around the outside are about 1", and I also added inside corners to finish off the corners. Once the edges and the center cross are glued, add red glitter glue circles and let everything dry.

I will add the arm handles on the back the week of the lesson, so they are not in the way each week we add the pictures on the front. Also, the kids will add their photo the first week, but I have added the picture of Jesus in Heaven in case you'd rather use that. Click here to print the pictures for the shield.

        

This is one of the bulletin boards that I do for this lesson. Click here to see the Colossal Roman Soldier Poster (McV1649) [We love it!] Updated note: This isn't printed anymore, so look on your favorite resale site like eBay or Amazon.

And the Armor of God posters with each piece of the outfit are here.

Updated note: This isn't printed anymore, so look on your favorite resale site like eBay or Amazon.

Click here to see and print the Helmet of Salvation.

   

Click here to see the Sword of the Spirit.

Click here to see the Belt of Truth.

The photos of the Roman Soldier are either from www.Wikipedia.com or from www.Padfield.com. All photos have the link under them of the original owner. The photos from David Padfield are copyrighted and not permitted to be used without his permission. The Padfield photos are used with permission here. The photos without an owner link are my photos.
 

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.

Used by permission.