Armor Of God

This was a fun activity for choice and accountability.

I first started with an object lesson:
Get an orange and a clear bowl or pitcher and fill it with water - make sure that it is not so full that when the orange is submerged that it overflows, and the bowl has to be deep enough to see the orange floating/ sinking.

Explain that the orange represents each girl. It is sweet and has great things to offer. It is also protected by its thick skin. The skin represents the Armor of God. The water represents the world and all things worldly.
Place the orange in the water and point out how it floats, just like our own personal testimony and obedience keeps us afloat in a wicked world. It is important to keep your Armor of God intact.

Take the orange out of the water.
Explain that you can get chinks in your armor if you don't make good choices.
As you list the bad decisions that they might make peel pieces of the orange peel off.

Examples of bad choices are;
got home late
wore that skirt that is just a little too short
talked back to your mom
copied someones homework instead of doing it on your own
didn't read your scriptures
slept in instead of going to seminary
told a bit of a lie to avoid getting into trouble
didn't keep a promise you made
watched an inappropriate movie
that bad word just slipped out of your mouth!

etc. until the orange has no peel left.

Now drop the orange back into the water and watch it sink. The point is made that without our protective Armor in place we are sunk, and it happens with small choices that we make each day!

I then read this exerpt from an Ensign article by President N. Eldon Tanner (May 1979)

"Are we studying the scriptures so that we can increase our knowledge and faith and testimony regarding the gospel? Do we keep the commandments? Are we honest and truthful in our dealings? Do we keep the Sabbath day holy? Do we observe the Word of Wisdom? Do we pay an honest tithing? Do we attend our meetings and respond to the calls made of us by our authorities? Are we virtuous and clean and pure in heart and mind and deed?

Do we fight against the evils around us—pornography, abortion, tobacco, alcohol, drugs? Do we have the courage to stand up for our convictions? Can we truly say we are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ? Do we live peaceably with our neighbors and avoid gossip and backbiting and spreading unfounded rumors? Do we truly love our neighbors as ourselves?

If we can answer yes to these questions, then we will have on the whole armor of God, which will protect us from harm and preserve us from our enemies. If we must answer no to these questions, then our armor is weak, there is an unshielded place which can be found, a vulnerable area for attack, and we will be subject to injury or destruction by Satan, who will search until he finds our weaknesses, if we have them.

Examine your armor. Is there an unguarded or unprotected place? Determine now to add whatever part is missing. No matter how antiquated or lacking in parts your armor may be, always remember that it is within your power to make the necessary adjustments to complete your armor.

Through the great principle of repentance you can turn your life about and begin now clothing yourself with the armor of God through study, prayer, and a determination to serve God and keep his commandments."

Next we had the Armor of God activity:

We read the scripture that describes the armor of god :Ephesians 6:11-17
And made a list of all the pieces:

• Helmet of Salvation
• Breastplate of Righteousness
• Belt of Truth
• Shield of Faith
• Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God
• Shod with the Gospel of Peace

I brought a bunch of supplies and had the girls construct and armor of God. They made and decorated each piece.
We used paper bags, a pizza round (for the shield) pipe cleaners, paper plates, yarn, markers, a hole punch, a long balloon (for the sword) and craft paper. Of course you can use anything you want, or have on hand. It is all about letting the girls get creative.
When it was all made we had one of the girls put it on and we took a picture of the group. It was really cute.

**I did this activity with about 4 girls, just our Beehive class, but you could do it for a bigger group and maybe make a few "outfits" and model them all at the end.