I lay in my bed, rendered helpless to fight against the ongoing attacks on my mind: conflict, fear, confusion, hurt, deception, grief. Satan was shooting arrow after arrow right at my head, and they each had found their mark. I felt paralyzed and unable to fight back. Moments led to days of fighting depression, discouragement, defeat. Days led to months when it felt like those firy darts would never stop. Getting out of bed to take care of my family and myself seemed impossible most days. I was in a pit that I couldn’t seem to climb out of. 

Satan was winning the battle for my mind.

I had to ask myself, what had left me in such a defenseless place, open to the enemy’s onslaughts, despite my supposed strong faith? Satan’s constant attacks on my mind would keep finding their marks until I actively chose to put on that part of the armor that would protect my mind and stop the attacks.

I needed to actually put the helmet of salvation on to protect my mind.

Our minds are probably the most vulnerable and necessary to protect when it comes to spiritual battles. That’s why it’s so imperative we defend ourselves against Satan by being sober-minded and watchful. If we aren’t careful about what we allow into our minds, we will find ourselves in that place where it’s easy for his weapons to find their mark. 

The helmet of the Roman Soldier was vital in protecting his head in battle; one blow or strike could quickly become fatal. The helmet was a cap made of think leather or brass, sometimes adorned with a plume or crest on the top as identification or indication of their rank. 

If the need for protection of the head is vital in the physical sense, it is even more so in the spiritual sense. Our minds will always be a prime target in battle. God tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that our adversary, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeing someone to devour and would love nothing better than to find our minds exposed and easy to attack.

The helmet of salvation that God has given to us as part of our armor in spiritual battle comprises the courage and determination to stand firm against sin, the hope we have in eternal life, and our trust in His promise of salvation. While the world is corrupt and filled with sin and evil, the hope of our salvation acts like a helmet protecting our minds. 

Paul is writing to those who have already attained salvation. This verse isn’t about how we are to be saved, it’s about taking our salvation and appropriating what has already been given to us. The enemy would love nothing more than for us to doubt the security of our salvation, destroying our assurance of the work Christ accomplished on the cross. Satan will use weapons of doubt and discouragement to keep our minds off of what God has already done for us. The helmet serves to remind us Who we belong to and what He has already given us. 

Armed with this helmet, Christ had the hope of the joy set before Him and was able to endure the cross (see Hebrews 12:2). THIS is the same hope we as Believers in Christ also possess; it’s what serves as a helmet to protect our minds from the lies Satan tells us and the temptations he uses to attack us. 

It’s this object of the hope we have that serves to protect us – our salvation. The same thought is also talked about in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 where it says, “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” 

The idea is that a deep-seated hope of our salvation will preserve and protect us when facing spiritual battles (which all battles are when it comes right down to it.). It guards us against the blows the enemy strikes against us, defending our soul and giving us the courage to keep fighting. A soldier with no hope of victory will lose the fight before ever stepping foot onto the battlefield, but a Christian with the hope of redemption, salvation, and life will contend with his enemies and experience victory. 

This helmet protects us against discouragement and the temptation to give up. One of Satan’s most effective weapons against us is a discouragement that leads to defeat. But when we have hope anchoring us it’s hard to remain discouraged!  If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus we will have that same “hope as an anchor to our soul, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19 ESV). We have the grace of the Lord and the hope of a renewed heart because of our salvation that makes up this helmet that covers our heads and protects our minds. It’s the foundation of our hope, found in the promises of the Father, the work of His Son, and the influence of the Spirit in our lives. 

We put the helmet on and it cultivates, protects, and preserves the hope we have in our salvation. God, Himself, has said: “For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,

and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.” (Isaiah 59:17 NKJV). 

God could take care of the enemy all by Himself, without us, but He gives us the same armor He uses because He desires us to take part in this spiritual battle with Him. The hope of salvation gives us the assurance that we are in fact saved, and the confidence that God will be victorious in this battle. 

When our head is protected with this helmet we have a proper perspective and can look up towards heaven for the salvation the Lord says is ours. We don’t look at the world or the things in it to save us; we know salvation only comes from what Christ accomplished on the cross and that the battle has already been won.

The warrior that wears the helmet of salvation is protected because: 

1. We carry Christ in our hearts and keeping the gospel’s truth in our heads we keep from being robbed of the hope we have in heaven. 
2. Our minds are protected from false teachings and deceitful attacks from Satan.
3. We identify with Christ and are able to hold our heads up tall in the midst of difficulty, distress, and affliction because we are given the confidence that comes with identifying with the One that is fighting for us.
4. We are able to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5.
5. We are guarded against Satan’s lies and attempts to harm our walk with Christ.

Just like with the other elements of the armor of God, in order for them to effectively work, we have to actually put them on and employ them as they’re meant to function. God gives each piece to us as Believers, but whether we put the armor on is up to each of us. Do we securely fasten the helmet to our heads, or do we just carry it around uselessly in our hands? The armor doesn’t work unless it’s worn properly!

As we actively put the helmet of salvation on every day, our minds become more protected against the temptations, desires, and traps that Satan lays down.  We change our mindsets and guard against worldly influence, and instead, we focus on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8). The helmet of our salvation is worn as a protection that “guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7), and this leads to a deep peace-producing protection. 

We are “kept in perfect peace” when our minds are stayed on Jesus because our trust is put in Him (Isaiah 26:3). This feeling of perfect peace is sure and steadfast, it’s not a fleeting or fickle peace that leaves us as soon as circumstances become too difficult. It’s a matter of truly knowing this kind of quietness of our souls, therefore it requires our minds to be submitted to and settled on Him and not on things of this earth. 

We’re given this very precious promise, that we “who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:5-9 (NKJV).

Dear friends, this is the helmet we wear that protects our minds through Christ Jesus.