English Standard Version (ESV)
My primary thought is this: the whole armor of God looks very, very different than the armor of the world. Look to Jesus' life -- as the One who was draped more fully with the armor of God than anyone else, his life was so unexpected that the faith leaders of the day had him killed, and yet he won the battle! He emerged victorious, and it is He that we worship to this day, not the ones who sought the armor of the world to have him killed.
So when we clothe ourselves with the armor of God, we are fighting a different battle. We don't need to look like a victorious army in this world does -- we can selflessly serve and humbly listen and sacrifice ourselves, because the tools we use to resist the devil aren't the same tools the army might use. We act differently. Our lives should look different. We make different choices, because we have different values. We rely on prayer and supplication and trust in God to carry us forward, and God will never, ever disappoint us. In the long run, we are on the victorious side, and our confidence in God allows us to rely primarily on God's Kingdom, not our own.
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