There's a Computer game called Diablo, where two or more players meet online on the Internet to fight and destroy the devil. When I visited my niece, she started a game. She showed me her character—a female warrior—and the town where the game begins. Then she went below to a mythical region of hell and began to fight the devil's creatures. After a few minutes, another player joined her game. He didn't respond to her friendly attempts to include him. Instead, he acted contrary to the purpose of the game and attempted to kill her warrior. My niece put up a spirited defense but lost, because she hadn't armed her warrior with the proper armor.

In a sense, we all face battles with evil—and we can win them if we're prepared. In the Bible, Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Eph. 6:11). The armor of God is not physical—it's spiritual. Further on, Paul sketches out a wonderful description of that armor. "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:14–17).

Although evil can appear very real, the Bible helps us see that it is a deception or lie. Referring to the devil, Christ Jesus taught, "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). The armor of God helps us stand against the deceptions of the devil and prove evil's unreality. Jesus understood that God, Spirit, is the only power and presence. He knew God as the eternal Father and man as His beloved child. With his thought girded with the truth of God and of man, Jesus disproved the lie. He proved that Christ, Truth, destroys error, or falsehood, and maintains the health, holiness, and harmony of man.

But what if we're fooled into believing a lie? If we believe in something false, we may act upon that belief and get into trouble. For example, some people believe that stealing or adultery will enrich their lives. They act according to their belief only to end up impoverished by what they do. The evil is not a personal devil, but a wrong belief. We do not battle against a real or personal evil any more than Jesus did. Rather, we deny the lie that evil exists. If we believe the lie, we are subject to it. When we stand for the truth and deny the lie, we prove the nothingness of the lie. When we strengthen our loins—the strong sinews of our thought—with the truth that is Christ, we are not fooled by error.

At one time I noticed a small bump inside my mouth. I was curious and kept checking its condition. In a short time I discovered it was quite a bit larger. Now I was concerned. I worried, If it got so big so quickly, what was it? How much bigger would it get?

This kind of thinking only frightened me further. I needed to gird my thought with Truth so I could overcome disease. First, I thought about how God, perfect good, made man perfect. Since God is the only power that creates and governs man and the universe, man is always perfect. I knew that since I am a creation of God, I am perfect, as His expression. Second, since I was contending for the truth of perfect man, it would obviously be counterproductive to keep checking for evidence of diseased or imperfect man. I refused to examine the area anymore. Whenever I thought about it, I replaced the thought that something could be wrong with the reality of perfect man. I stopped noticing the bump in my mouth, and it disappeared. My safety in Truth was proved.

Mary Baker Eddy wrote to Christian Scientists, "... keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter them. It is plain that nothing can be added to the mind already full. There is no door through which evil can enter, and no space for evil to fill in a mind filled with goodness. Good thoughts are an impervious armor; clad therewith you are completely shielded from the attacks of error of every sort. And not only yourselves are safe, but all whom your thoughts rest upon are thereby benefited" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 210).

It is only if we believe a lie that we become vulnerable to experiencing its effects. The armor of God provides a perfect defense, keeping us from being deceived into thinking of evil as real or powerful. It is our thought that must be armed. As our thought is clothed in Truth, clad in goodness, active in peace, shielded by Love, crowned with the glory of Christian living and healing, and using the sword of Truth, we are safe.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians: "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.... Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:11, 14–17).

Mary Baker Eddy wrote to Christian Scientists, "... keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter them. It is plain that nothing can be added to the mind already full. There is no door through which evil can enter, and no space for evil to fill in a mind filled with goodness. Good thoughts are an impervious armor; clad therewith you are completely shielded from the attacks of error of every sort. And not only yourselves are safe, but all whom your thoughts rest upon are thereby benefited" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 210).