Wearing a Belt of Truth

Claire Black: This is True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. Together, we’ll explore God’s truth for us one drive at a time. Buckle Up! You’re about to grow closer to each other and closer to Jesus!

Today is going to be our last day meeting in the True Girl Truth Lab. 

The True Girl Truth Lab is always overflowing with truth, but today will be extra special. You could call it a truth overload if there were such a thing. Grab your journal and a pen because there’s a lot coming your way. 

So far in this season, you’ve learned how to know you’re believing a lie, how to know what the lie is, and how to replace it with truth. You have to be able to use the truth to be set free from the lies you’re believing. Dannah Gresh and Staci Rudolph are going to be talking about that today. 

These three steps were first written about in a book titled Lies Women Believe by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. (Mom, if you’re listening while you drive, you’d love that book!) Anyway, the final step is this: using truth to be set free.

Let’s listen to episode 6, which is called “Wearing a Belt of Truth.”

Staci Rudolph: Hey, Dannah. You’re here pretty early. 

Dannah Gresh: I am! I woke up around five today, had some coffee, fed the goats and llamas, vacuumed my living room, put a load of laundry in, got a car wash, grabbed some breakfast, and then came here.

Staci: Wow, exactly how much coffee did you have? 

Dannah: Oh, it’s not that! By the end of today’s time in the truth lab, you’ll know where I get my real energy!

Staci: You’ve done more this morning than I’ll probably get done all day! 

Dannah: Well, we’ve got lots to cover today, so coffee was a must. 

Staci: What all do we have to do? I got the mail and there was a letter, but not the type of letter we’re used to. It’s unique.

Dannah: Really?

Staci: Yeah. I figured we’d get to it after whatever you have planned.

Dannah: Okay, sounds good. 

Staci: So, what do you have planned?

Dannah: Today, we’re learning about something super important: the Belt of Truth.

Staci: Cool! 

Dannah: Oh, you have no idea. It’s veerrrryyyy cool. You’re gonna have so much truth comin’ at ya, you won’t know what to do.

Staci: I’m ready! Let’s do it

Dannah: Okay, first, has explaining each element of the lie detection machine been helpful to you? I mean, has it made using the Truth Lab in your heart . . . your Bibles . . . has it made it a bit easier to understand?

Staci: For sure! I think our True Girls feel the same way too. I just wish we had no need for it, though. Like, I wish sticky feelings didn’t even exist or that there was a way to avoid them.

Dannah: Me too, Staci. But unfortunately, that’s not the way it works. Sometimes I still struggle with them, and if I’m not careful, they can really become stuck to me and be pretty hard to get off. Everyone struggles with sticky emotions, though, and the lies beneath them. As long as we live, we have to do the hard work of identifying lies, ripping them up, and replacing them with truth.

But I have some really good news! I’ve discovered one simple thing that helps me avoid the lies and live in the truth. It’s as easy as getting dressed every morning.

Staci: What is it?

Dannah: It’s truth! Every day you wake up and put on clothes, right Staci? 

Staci: I sure do. I think we’d have a problem if I didn’t!

Dannah: Well, living in truth is kind of like that. You have to put it on every day. True Girl, I want you to learn to wear truth!

Now let me explain, lots of Bible verses tell us to “put on” things, like: humility, righteousness, and love. And sure, you don’t actually put your arms through it and put it on your body, but maybe you think to yourself: I’m going to pick up the truth today and wear it! I’m going to cover myself with kindness and love.

So, these things are spiritual characteristics that can be worn just like a pair of your favorite jeans or a team jersey. No, you can’t touch them or feel them, but I think you can kind of “see” when someone wears those things. You know what I am saying?

Staci: Mhmm.

Dannah: One of the things we can “put on” is the Belt of Truth. 

Staci: Ah, is that where they got the name for the final piece of the lie detection machine?

Dannah: Yep! It actually comes from the Word of God. Ephesians 4:16, it reads,

Stand up and do not be moved. Wear a Belt of Truth around your body. 

Staci: I’ve definitely read that verse a time or two. When the apostle Paul wrote it, he also encouraged Christians to wear a bunch of other stuff too right? 

Dannah: Yeah. 

Staci: Things like:

• the shield of righteousness
• shoes of peace
• the helmet of salvation
• the shield of faith
• the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God

Dannah:  Yep! We call all these things the armor of God, and they’re all important for Christians to “put on.” But the “Belt of Truth” is the very first thing Paul mentions. Do you know why, Staci?

Staci: I don’t. Why?

Dannah: Well, back when Paul wrote the verses, Roman soldiers wore a belt that was a lot different from the simple leather straps we wear today. 

It was a thick, heavy band made out of leather and metal, with a big protective piece that hung down in the front of it. The belt held the soldier’s sword and other weapons in place.

And your Belt of Truth holds everything else in place too. It helps you make right choices. It keeps you living in peace. It helps you keep your faith. You get the idea! You have to put it on to keep the other stuff in place. 

Staci: That’s pretty cool. I never knew the reasoning behind that.

Dannah: Yep! That could be why. 

Staci: So, how do you put on the Belt of Truth?

Dannah: I’m glad you asked! You think about it all the time, every day. 

I like to get this started first thing in the morning by reading my Bible and writing verses in my prayer journal. I wake up super early before Farmer Bob and make myself a cup of coffee.

Staci: The first one, you mean?

Dannah: Yep.

Then I sit by my fireplace—in the winter it’s still dark and it’s so cozy—and I read my Bible, I pray, and I write in my journal. I like to have special devotional books to help me understand God’s Word.

You may find a favorite devotional book you enjoy, like the one you get when you’re part of the True Girl Subscription. (You can learn about that at MyTrueGirl.com.)

Or maybe you’d rather have family devos or mother/daughter devos, and you have a book that helps you with that. 

Maybe you’ll start a collection of your own favorite Bible verses and tape them to your bedroom wall. It really doesn’t matter how you do it, but get into the Bible every single day! Each time you do, you are “putting on” the very important Belt of Truth.

Staci: Cool! So, will we get to see the Belt of Truth on the lie detector machine in action today?

Dannah: Oh yeah! It’s time to do that right now. So, the Belt of Truth on this machine is what prints out those verses the Scripture Searcher 2000. It’s what we use from God’s Word to rip out the lies that the Lie-o-meter finds. It’s all finally coming together. Before you got here, I put in twenty topics True Girls tell us they struggle with and often believe lies about. Now, I’m going to fire up this thing and let it print us out lots of truth for us today. 

Now, you won’t hear the alarm or see the bulb light up. I bypassed the Lie-o-meter and am just using the Scripture Searcher 2000 and the Belt of Truth today!

Okay, it’s ready to start printing. 

Staci: Wow, it’s still going! That’s the most I’ve ever seen it print!

Dannah: I told ya! Lots of truth coming out today. I got some. Let’s move here and read these things. 

Staci: Alright, I’m ready. 

Dannah:  Okay True Girl, so remember I put in the top twenty problems that girls have in the girl world. And all the Belt of Truth is doing right now is printing out some truths I need, and some statements of Bible verses that might be helpful. 

First up, when you feel like God might not love you. 

Here’s the truth: God loves you all the time, every day, even when you have done something bad. He doesn’t want you to sin and hurt because of it, but He loves you no matter what and is always ready to forgive you. If you don’t believe me, check out Romans 5:8. 

Staci: Let me read this next one!

It’s for when you aren’t sure if you are a Christian or not.

Here’s the truth: You are a Christian if you have “confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.” You can find that in Romans 10:9. And you will be different, because becoming a Christian changes the way you act. You want more of God, and less of this world. More verses for that are 2 Corinthians 5:17 and 1 John 2:3–19

Dannah:  I hope you write this down, this is good stuff. What about this one? When you feel like your family is weird.

Staci: That is a big one. 

Dannah:  This truth is this: Remember that different is good. Your family is different. Every family is, and that’s good. God doesn’t want us to be like everyone else, but to be different because we are obeying Him. You can read about that in Ephesians 4:17, 19–20

Staci: Wow! This list is gonna take a while to print, but it’s awesome. So useful and so practical. 

Dannah:  Yeah, God’s Word is like that. It’s useful and practical. I find that when I wake up early and put my Belt of Truth on, I’m ready to take on the world!

Staci: Do you really get up early every day to do that?

Dannah: Nope. Sometimes I miss. And on those days, I gotta tell you, well, it’s really interesting how they seem longer, and harder. It’s like my Scripture Searcher 2000 plug in didn’t get activated!

Staci: Wow! That thing is still printing. Dannah, when is it going to stop? 

Dannah:  When I turn it off. Staci, there’s no end to how useful and practical the Scripture is. It applies to every area of our life, it’s unending. The Bible makes our world make sense. It explains how we fit into God’s plan for the day and the moment and for our whole life. It gives us the truth we need to live through hard things and process temptations. We need it every day. But . . .

I’m going to turn this off because I don’t want to run out of paper for the next letter we get. But I kind of try to live my life with the Belt of Truth always at work, at work in the back of my mind!

Staci: I like that! Dannah, I can identify with you on the days you do and don’t have devos. On the days I do I feel amazing, but on the days I don’t, I feel, well you know how I am feeling.

Dannah:  Struggle bus?

Staci: Yes. 

Dannah: Staci, do you feel like the Truth Lab of your heart is fired up and ready to roll today?

Staci: Absolutely! Just call me a lie detecting machine. 

Dannah: Good, I love that! I think our True Girls are feeling the same way. 

Hey! You said we had one more letter to tackle, right? An unusual one?

Staci: Yep! You ready?

Dannah: I am! What’s it about?

Staci: Well, it’s from our friend Jessica. She wants us to use the lie detection machine to answer a few questions all kids are apparently dying to know.

Dannah:  Really? Like what?

Staci: Like, “If you cross your eyes for long enough, will they stay that way forever?”

Or “If you aren't careful when draining a bathtub, will you get sucked down the drain too?”

Dannah: Oh, wow! 

Staci: “Can the floor actually become lava?”

Or this one, “Does the moon follow you?”

Dannah: Oh wow! I don’t think it answers questions like that, but let’s fire it up and give it a try. 

Claire: What a funny letter! 

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this season of the True Girl Podcast written by Staci Rudolph and Dannah Gresh. I really think you are ready to use your very own Truth Lab—the one in your heart. Remember: put on the Belt of Truth every day by reading God’s Word. That’s what holds everything together!

Also, it’s really important that you ask God to help you know the truth and live it out. 

By the way, that list that Dannah and Staci started to read, it’s actually in Dannah’s book, Lies Girls Believe and the True That Sets Them Free. In that book are twenty of the most common lies girls have and the Bible verses and Truth she needs to overcome them. Get a copy of the book at MyTrueGirl.com. 

Our current True Girl event is also based on the book Lies Girls Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free. Find out if the True Girl tour bus is coming close to you! Visit MyTrueGirl.com.

We’ve had a lot of fun this season, haven’t we? But don’t forget that sticky lies and feelings aren’t just a game. Learning to live in truth now will affect the rest of your life. So, Dannah wanted to pray for you as you go fight those lies. 

Dannah: Dear Lord, I do just lift up to You my sweet sisters, sisters in Jesus. As we each believe in You, Father, that makes us family. And I want them, Lord Jesus ,to thrive, and to know truth and live in freedom. And as we’ve been learning, we can know the truth, and when we know the truth, we can experience freedom. 

Would You protect each girl listening from the lies of the enemy? Would You give her courage and boldness that when she hears a lie, that she gently but lovingly tells people what the truth is? Or at least tells her own heart what the truth is? 

And Father, I pray that You would give her a desire every day to want to put on the Belt of Truth, to open her Bible, and to read what Your words of truth say and to receive them for her heart and for her day. In Jesus’ name I pray this, amen. 

The True Girl podcast is produced by Revive Our Hearts. calling women of all ages to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ. 
 

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