Happy New Year. Don’t Forget to Put on the Armor of God.

The calendar turned and a new year showed up right on time.

Fresh pages and clean slates tend to make us hopeful. We set intentions, choose a word for the year, sketch out plans, and reimagine a version of ourselves that is a little wiser, a little steadier, and maybe even a little braver than last year’s version. But before we rush into goals, resolutions, and holy optimism, Scripture offers a quieter, more grounded invitation:

Get dressed.

Paul’s words in Ephesians 6 aren’t there for poetic decoration. They’re practical wisdom for people who wake up every day in a world that pushes back hard and often.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Notice what Paul doesn’t say.
He doesn’t say if the battle comes.
He doesn’t say armor is for especially difficult years. Paul assumes resistance is part of the terrain.

The Armor of God isn’t about aggression. It’s about stability.

Truth to keep you anchored when narratives get loud.
Righteousness to guard your heart when compromise feels easier.
Peace to steady your steps when anxiety tries to lead.
Faith to absorb the blows you didn’t see coming.
Salvation to remind you who you belong to.
The Word, not as a weapon for arguing, but as breath for living.

This matters because many of us start the year spiritually underdressed.

We step into January armed with planners and good intentions, but without prayer. We speak about hope without tending to truth. We engage online with bare hearts and sharpened keyboards.

Christian life isn’t meant to be lived unprotected. Don’t confuse foolishness with boldness.

To live unprotected is to engage life without truth guarding our mind, without righteousness shaping our choices, without peace anchoring our reactions. It’s showing up to spiritual, emotional, and relational battles relying only on willpower, opinions, or good intentions.

Scripture never calls believers to be defenseless. It calls us to be present and protected.

The Armor of God isn’t about hardness. It’s about wholeness.
It’s not about fighting everyone, but about standing firm when pressure comes. It’s not about isolation, but about engagement without losing ourselves.

Jesus sent His followers into the world, not naked to its forces, but clothed in what sustains them. Christian life isn’t meant to be lived exposed. It’s meant to be lived covered by truth, peace, faith, and the steady reminder of who you belong to.

If 2026 is going to be anything different, it won’t be because the world got easier. It will be because we chose, again and again, to show up clothed in what God provides.

So before you chase what’s next
or try to fix what’s broken and
before you try to be brave,

Pause.

Put on the armor.
Not once. Daily.

Happy New Year.
Get dressed.