What does it mean to GIRD YOUR LOINS???

By now, we ALL know that we must put on THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD!!! 




And we know that we must be ARMED WITH THE WORD of GOD!!!




But, what does it mean to GIRD YOUR LOINS???




Ephesians 6:14, 17 (KJV)

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,


¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;




I wanted to know more about how I was supposed to “gird up my loins with truth” and so I began searching for information. 




What part of the body are your loins???  And how exactly are we supposed to "girt up" our loins???



Thefreedictionary.com http://www.thefreedictionary.com/loins defines loins in this manner!



Loins - 1. The region of the hips, groin, and lower abdomen. 
             2. The reproductive organs.





Then I decided to look up the word, “gird” in The Free Dictionary,
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gird


gird ¹  (gûrd)

v. gird·ed or girt (gûrt), gird·ing, girds

1. a. To encircle with a belt or band. 
    b. To fasten or secure (clothing, for example) with            a belt or band.

2. To equip or endow.

3. To prepare (oneself) for action.



Let’s use this definition with the scripture to give a clearer picture of just how a soldier would gird himself for battle!!! 



Ephesians 6:14 (KJV) Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness



Using this scripture and the 2 definitions above, we see that a soldier would stand therefore, having his loins-his hips, groin and lower abdomen-girt about (being secured) with a belt or band of truth.

As I read the definition of gird, I suddenly had an “Ahaaaa” moment!!! 




If you look at the definition of “gird”, you will see that it includes in its meaning:  To fasten or secure (clothing, for example) with a belt or band.




So, that explains why several different translations say that we are to put on the belt of truth or gird our waists with truth!!! 




You see, I always refer back to the King James Bible to see what it says because ALL other translations come from it!!! 




Ephesians 6:14 (KJV) Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness

 

And to be truthful sometimes the other translations (or Bibles) do NOT seem to say the same thing as the King James Bible does, so I have often wondered how they ended up with something different!!! 




Ephesians 6:14 (NKJV) Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness

And now I know!!!  At first to me, some of these translations did NOT seem to agree.  But after further consideration, I see that my knowledge from a feminine point of view has colored my thinking. 




You see, I knew that I had read that the loins included your reproductive organs!!  And because I have a high waist and am a gal, my waist is no where near “my loins!!!”




I had forgotten that men do NOT wear belts around their waists, as do ladies, but rather in their belt loops!!!  To make this concept real to me, the Lord showed me an image of a gunslinger wearing his gun belt low on his hips and NOT high on his waist!!! 




It is now plain to me that the belt that is spoken of in some translations is more of a type of girding or a band.  It would be more like a utility belt or part of a soldier’s weaponry!!!     




Ephesians 6:14 (AMP) Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God





Now, let’s look at the armor that soldiers wore in THE WORD OF GOD!!!!




According to THE WORD, King Saul and other soldiers wore coats of mail!!!  They fastened their swords and possibly other weapons on their armor and they wore armor on their lower legs which suggests that their coats of mail were quite long extending well past their waist!!! 



In almost every picture that I have seen, the coats of mail were long enough to cover the soldiers’ thighs and groin area, but did NOT reach their knees because to do so would keep them from being able to move easily in battle. 




1 Samuel 17:38-39 (NKJV)

³⁸ So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail.

³⁹ David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.

Earlier in this same chapter, The Word describes Goliath’s armor and tells us that he wore armor on his legs.



1 Samuel 17:4-7 (NKJV)

⁴ And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

⁵ He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.

⁶ And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders.

⁷ Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him.





Did you notice that the word “gird” has more than one meaning??? 





One of the many meanings of “gird” is:  To prepare (oneself) for action.




So, I say to you, that WHEN YOU GIRD YOURSELF YOU ARE PREPARING FOR BATTLE OR GETTING READY TO FIGHT!!!