faith above all

“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (Ephesians 6:16).
 
Paul has been giving some closing instructions to his Ephesian brethren when he pens these words. He has exhorted them to put on the whole armor of God and to stand strong in their convictions about the Lord.
 
A shield for a Roman soldier was a large, oblong object that could protect almost his entire body, and the fiery darts were weapons with flammable materials on their tips—actually, firebrands—with the capability of starting a fire. This metaphor gives dramatic impact to this wonderful teaching about the power of Satan and the place a strong faith has in the Christian’s arsenal.
 
No Christian has ever lived who has not suffered the intensity of Satan’s temptations in his attempt to draw us away from God. The power we need to withstand such is a powerful, scripturally based conviction that God does exist and that Jesus Christ is His Son. Paul says we need this kind of faith “above all”—that is, above anything else he could name to keep a child of God faithful.