I sometimes hear struggling Christians say that they know the Bible is important, but that they don’t read it as much as they should.

Here’s some motivation. The Bible is a weapon in the war against fear. Why? Because fear feeds on uncertainty and untruth.

When we’re experiencing something challenging on a global scale, our brains are working overtime and in over-drive, making up worst case scenarios, and jumbling our thoughts about who we are, who to trust, and what our priorities should be.

But in Ephesians 6:17, a well-known passage about God’s people being ready for spiritual warfare, Paul writes: “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

God’s written word to us—the Bible—is a part of this weaponry: the “sword of the Spirit.”

In these uncertain times, how do you know the difference between a need God will provide, and a want? How do you know what your number-one parenting priority should be? How do you learn to be more content, or to have more peace, or to be the person God wants you to be, regardless of what’s happening in life?

In short, we read the Bible, and ask for God to increase our understanding.

Read it every day. If you’re already doing that, awesome. Keep it up.

If not, start with Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. You’ll be encouraged to know that Jesus’ disciples didn’t always understand everything either. But they were so captivated by him that they wanted more!

And so will you.

As a result, you’ll be better equipped to think and act from a place of faith instead of fear—firmly rooted in God’s wisdom—instead of just reacting to the noisy cultural buzz which is bombarding us 24/7.

Arm yourself.

“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

By Matthew Ruttan

–If you’re looking to order a Study Bible, here are five suggestions.

–This Sunday is Palm Sunday! My message is called “Hope when it hurts.” If you don’t have a church home, click here to sign up for a free email reminder which is sent out Sunday mornings and directs you to our live-stream.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.