"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand"- Ephesians 6:13

The armor of God is a topic frequently visited and revisited by clergymen at all levels of spiritual education. Said armor is composed by a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, sandals (shoes... whatever) from the gospel of peace, a shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and finally, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

But I wish to propose another layer of protection that I know for a fact that young people like me desperately need. It is immensely uncomfortable to wear armor, and abrasions around the waist that come freely with breastplates (or in my experience, bulletproof vests) are no fun. I propose then, brothers and sisters, for us to don the underwear of God.

Underwear is an amazing invention. For guys, it keeps our greatest weakness nice and dry, and for girls, well, I'm not one, but I'm sure you all enjoy having underwear.

All pretenses aside, we all know that the true weakness of any warrior is never really in his lack of fighting ability. The lack of self-control, the inability to protect one's self from his or her deepest, dirtiest desires, is what causes the actual issues. Because a soldier who fights for the wrong reasons is more dangerous than a soldier who cannot fight, to both himself and the people around him.

And if we examine protection on a spiritual level, it's an open secret that the Enemy never really confronts us directly. The Enemy holds greatest power when we don't feel a need to fight, when we think that we are left to our own devices. He doesn't need to fight through our armor, not when he can seize control over us from underneath that armor.

And obviously, I'm talking about masturbation and pornography. Yes, I am talking about something that should be taboo, something that nobody really enjoys discussing frankly because of how awkward and uncomfortable it gets when you have to be frank about your bedroom habits. But that is the greatest threat masturbation poses to Christian life: It is not something we are willing to discuss in too much depth. It's way too personal, so back off, thank you very much.

But in our solitude, it's easy to forget the underwear of God. It's easy to rationalize. Masturbation is natural, and pornography generates an ungodly amount of revenue. If you aren't someone who does either, understand that there are a plethora of studies supporting the mental and physical health benefits of masturbation. Pornography is obviously something less discussed, since it's... how should I put it... tactless, to talk about pornography.

Regardless of the effort put into reasoning with ourselves, there's an undeniable sense of nakedness that permeates our minds when we put on the armor of God without our underwear. It's edgy; it's cool to think that we, ah, can fight "balls out".

But it's also wrong.

Give me your reasons, whatever they may be. The Bible explicitly gives you every reason you should not masturbate and/or use pornography. It's not unlike when a parent tells a kid "No cookies", and the kid shrugs it off, saying, "But studies show that cookies significantly improve the overall mental and physical health of the growing child in unprecedented ways that no other..." I hope you get the picture. It just doesn't make sense to try to rationalize so that we can do something we aren't supposed to do. And acting against His will ultimately frustrates us just as much as it does Him.

Guard your heart against sexual immorality. Whatever is wrong will always be wrong, no matter how healthy it might make you. Jesus never said following him was easy, and the inability to let go of sensual pleasures is not just a stumbling block, but a chasm, an abyss between you and your calling from God.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, put on the underwear of God...