15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. 16 In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  

Ephesians 6:15-16 (CSB) 

 12 At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.[c] 17 He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.  

Ephesians 2:12-18 (CSB) 

 12 For our struggle is not against [a]flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 

Ephesians 6: 12 (NASB) 

 14 Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth has fallen in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. 15 Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. 16  

He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intervene; then his own arm brought him victory, and his righteousness upheld him. 17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in fury as a mantle. 

Isaiah 59: 14-17 (RSV) 

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November 10, 2025

Right now, I’m sitting in my room, looking out the window at a brilliant blue October sky. The leaves on the trees are radiant as the wind gently nudges them to wave hello. I am quiet and nourished by this beauty.  And yet no matter how “peaceful” we may feel at certain moments, we are, all of us, living in the midst of a raging war. But it’s not the war that most of us think of first. We may first think of the war in Ukraine or the war between Israel and Gaza. We may first think of the battle between Republicans and Democrats, left and right, progressive and conservative. We may first think of the battle for democracy, the battle against ________________ (insert cause or political hot button here). Most of the time, when we think of battle, we think of people. We think of people who are our enemies. We think of people who need to be defeated and people that we need to fight against. We cram people into two dehumanizing categories of good guys or bad guys. 

However, this is not how Paul describes our enemy in his letter to the Ephesians. In fact, Paul describes a way of doing battle that is entirely alien to any battle strategy in any war at any time in human history.  In Ephesians 6:12, Paul makes it clear that our enemy is not flesh and blood. People are not our enemy. Our enemy is against the forces of spiritual darkness and wickedness in the heavenly places. This is an entirely different kind of war.   

This week, I invite you to join me in ruminating on the verses above. What does it mean to put on the shoes of peace? 

Questions for reflection and discussion:  

  • Who is/are your current human enemy/enemies? (We all have enemies! It could be a political party, movement, politician, company, etc.) Why are they your enemy? How did this develop?  
  • Do you have a daily habit of putting on the whole armor of God? If not, why?  
  • How would you define peace?  

Church Reading Plan: 2 Kings 23; Hebrews 5