Most Christians, even new ones, have heard of the armor of God that is written about in Ephesians 6:13-17. To summarize, the armor includes the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of Salvation & sword of the Spirit.
Have you ever considered how the armor is when viewed from the perspective of dealing with narcissists? I would guess not. I’ve been a Christian since 1996 & studying Narcissistic Personality Disorder since 2011 & it never crossed my mind until recently. It’s well worth considering if you have to deal with a narcissist in any capacity.
When dealing with narcissists, you truly need that belt of truth. Narcissists twist the truth around to their advantage, deny the truth or even recreate their own version of any situation & call it the truth. When dealing with them, you must be well aware of the truth rather than accept their twisted version of it. Knowing the truth helps you to avoid being manipulated by narcissists.
You also will need to wear the breastplate of righteousness at all times. Being aware of what is right & moral will help you to stay on the right track with narcissists. They try to force victims into doing whatever they want, & often those things aren’t good for anyone but the narcissist, let alone moral. Being secure in what you know is right helps you not to get sucked into compromising yourself & your beliefs.
The shoes of peace are also incredibly important. Narcissists feed off the emotions of other people. Any sign of any emotion triggers a reaction in a narcissist. If you’re clearly happy, they’ll do what they can to make you sad. Angry? They’ll make you angrier. Sad? They’ll push you to the point of seriously considering suicide. The best thing you can do in any dealings with a narcissist is to remain completely neutral & peaceful. Show them no emotions whatsoever. Naturally, once you’re away from the narcissist, you need to deal with what you’re feeling however works best for you, because holding emotions in isn’t a healthy thing to do long term. I am only recommending holding emotions in while in their presence because it will help you in dealing with them.
You also will need your shield of faith. Faith in God can get you through anything & everything, even the impossible situations like dealing with narcissists. My faith enabled me to find successful ways to cope with my narcissistic parents, to go no contact at the right time & even helped to get my father to turn to Jesus at the end of his life. With God, all things are possible, even when it comes to dealing with narcissists.
The helmet of Salvation is truly invaluable as well. When you are secure in the knowledge that you are a child of God, it helps you in so many ways. It gives you peace, faith & the knowledge that your Heavenly Father will protect you from anything & enable you to survive anything.
The sword of the Spirit, God’s word, is incredibly valuable too. When you know what God has to say about things, it gives you wisdom & peace knowing not only how to handle what you must, but knowing that you can handle anything, even anything a narcissist can dish out.
If you’re wondering how to put on this armor of God, ask God to help you, listen to anything He suggests to you & have knowledge of the Bible. There are some really wonderful email lists you can subscribe to that will deliver Scriptures to your inbox daily. I subscribe to one that lets me read through the Bible in a year. There are also many devotionals available, either in email or book form. Whatever you do isn’t important. Your relationship with God & knowledge of His word are.