It is a time issue. Some people spent time with Jesus when He came by their area. Some people spent time with Jesus when they had a special need. Other people just came by for a moment to check Him out. There were people who never even bothered to spend a minute with Him. But, Peter spent the rest of his life with Jesus.

The breastplate of righteousness takes time. The more time we spend with Jesus, the more of the breastplate of righteousness we will put on. Sometimes we want to spend an hour a week with Jesus and the things of God and then be able to go out and defeat the devil on every issue. Jesus wants a relationship; time is very important to Him. The more time we spend with Him the better the relationship and the more successful our spiritual warfare is going to be, especially the issue of righteousness. Putting on, keeping on, and making sure our breastplate of righteousness is high quality is a time consuming process.

Luke 10:40-42 (NIV) But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Martha was probably cooking dinner. If that had been us making the choice about how Mary spent her time, we would have been worried about dinner getting prepared. We probably would have sent Mary in the kitchen to get the very important food ready. But Jesus had His priority on spiritual food. The Kingdom of God and His righteousness came first. With that kind of attitude, we will be losing a lot of weight.

Rom 6:13 (NIV) Do not OFFER the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather OFFER yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and OFFER the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.

The breastplate of righteousness makes it possible for us to use our bodies as instruments of righteousness. [You] do not offer.... As usual, the “you” is implied here. It is pointing its finger at us. If we didn’t understand the breastplate of righteousness as to how to get it on, keep it on, and make sure it is a high quality piece of armor, this would be a very scary Scripture. Do not OFFER the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness.

The more time we spend with Jesus through the guidance of the Bible, the less we offer the parts of our body to sin. How? The breastplate of righteousness is being installed and is growing in effectiveness day by day. The breastplate of righteousness resists the temptations of the body, the world, and the devil to do unrighteous deeds.

Jesus, through the Bible in Romans 6:13 has just given you permission and has spoken creative power for you to offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. Now you have the power to take action against unrighteousness. Now you can offer yourself to God. The power of the Word and Jesus empower you to put it on, keep it on, and make it a quality piece of armor. If you believe this is true, you will find yourself succeeding in offering your body as an instrument of righteousness.