Inside the Helmet

Your mind is a very precious thing. What can you do to protect it? God actually gave us a piece of armor designed to protect our minds—the helmet of salvation.

“A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”

You’ve probably heard this slogan, whether in a public service announcement or even in the movie Small Soldiers. Our minds are very precious—after all they determine much of how we interact with the world around us and who we are.

As important as our minds are, they can also be easily influenced. Our thoughts are shaped by whatever we allow to enter our minds. Those thoughts shape our words and actions. This can happen to such a point that some of my family can tell what I’ve been reading or watching on TV just by how I talk.

Since our minds are so important—and so easily influenced—the logical thing to do is to take good care of them. Hence, the helmet.

Needed: A helmet

Helmets are very useful because they protect our brain. For a soldier or athlete, a helmet can be the difference between life and death.

Mentally, we need a helmet as well. There is a lot of garbage in our world that tries to enter our minds, and we need something to keep it out of our heads. Satan is also dedicated to filling our minds with trash through deception or any other means he can find (1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:9). With an influence that is as present as the air itself, it is very hard to keep his way of thinking out (Ephesians 2:2).

Christians need a helmet—something to protect our minds from the influence of Satan and the world that he controls. Thankfully, God provides one.

A helmet of salvation

When Paul listed the different elements of the armor of God, one of the items that he described was the “helmet of salvation” (Ephesians 6:17). We are to put on the helmet of salvation and wear it so that it can protect us.

The helmet of salvation is also mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5:8, where Paul refers to it as a tool we can use to stay sober-minded and alert as to our spiritual condition and the state of the world.

God has revealed to us a wonderful plan that shows how He plans to offer salvation to all who have ever lived (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). This knowledge can protect us if we use it properly. In order for salvation to serve as a functioning helmet, however, there is one small catch: we have to wear it.

Wear the helmet

A helmet on the mantelpiece may look nice, but it’s also as useful as a squirt gun in a Western showdown. In order for our minds to be protected by the helmet of salvation, we have to wear it!

Obviously, we are not talking about a literal helmet. The “helmet of salvation” represents our thoughts—where our mind is—our focus. God’s plan of salvation can’t be an afterthought, but must be something that we are often thinking about. This helmet involves staying focused on our goal—the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).

By keeping salvation in our thoughts, we can make long-term decisions that benefit us and avoid many of the pitfalls that can trip us up. With salvation as a helmet, we can look more at the things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8).

Your mind is a precious thing. Be sure to protect it with the helmet of salvation!

To learn more about this piece of armor, read “Armor of God: Helmet of Salvation.”