Christ Integration Camp

Say:

• Just like knights and soldiers wear armor to protect themselves from being attacked, we wear the armor of God to protect us from being attacked by Satan.
• Satan tries to get us to sin, but since we love God, we don’t want to sin. We want to live righteous lives.
• Who can tell me what righteous means? Righteous means being right with God. We are righteous when we follow God and don’t let any sin into our hearts. What piece of armor protects the heart?
• Point to the knight’s breastplate. That’s right, the breastplate. The breastplate on a knight protects his heart. Our armor from God comes with a breastplate too. The breastplate we get from God is called the breastplate of righteousness. This means that when we put on the breastplate of righteousness, we are protecting our hearts from sin and learning to be righteous- right before God.

Read Psalm 119:9-11:

• Psalm 119:9-11 – How can a young person live a pure life? He can do it by obeying your word. With all my heart I try to obey you, God. Don’t let me break your commands. I have taken your words to heart so I would not sin against you.
• What do these verses have to do with righteousness? Verse 9 talks about keeping our way pure. That means righteous. What do the following verses tell us to do to stay righteous? That’s right, we seek the Lord with our whole heart, we keep his commandments, and we store up his word in our heart. We memorize Bible verses to remind us how to be righteous.

Say:

• I don’t want you to answer out loud, but can any of you think of a time when you sinned? Think to yourself how you felt after you sinned. (Give time for students to think.) At first it may have felt really good, but after a while, you probably felt pretty bad, huh? That’s because when we sin, we aren’t wearing the Breastplate of Righteousness. This makes it even easier for Satan to come in and help us to sin more.
• Remember, we make the choice to let Satan lead us to sin. If we work to put on the Breastplate of Righteousness every day, then it will be really hard for him to lead us into sin because we will be focused on following the commandments God gives us.
• In the armor of a Roman soldier, the breastplate served as protection for some of the most important parts of the body. Underneath the breastplate is the heart, lungs and other organs necessary for life. Therefore, if a soldier did not wear his breastplate, he was vulnerable to an attack that could result in instant death.
• So, why does Paul call it the breastplate of righteousness? If we do not protect ourselves with righteousness, we open ourselves up to attack from the enemy and can fall into sin.
• To be righteous means to obey God’s commandments and live in a way that is honorable to Him. Psalm 106:3 says, “How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice righteousness at all times!”
• Unfortunately, our sinful nature often gets in the way of living an upright life. When we decide to live based on our own desires rather than God’s, we make decisions that are harmful to ourselves and others.

Ask:

• How can we put on the breastplate of righteousness?
• We can start by being knowledgeable of God’s Word, which will allow us to understand how to live a righteous life. When trials and temptation come our way, we can base our decisions in His Word.
• In addition, through prayer, we can ask God to empower us to resist living in sin and to do what is right according to Him. 1 John 3:22 says, “And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey and do the things that please him.”
• As Christians, we can put on the breastplate of righteousness in our daily lives. In becoming aware of the decisions we make, we can determine whether or not they are based in God’s Word. In addition, we can ask Him to give us the strength to live righteously. Ultimately, this will allow us to withstand attacks from the enemy and live in ways that glorify Christ.