Monday, August 27, 2012

The Meaning of Shalom


God is Shalom. Shalom indicates that “peace has a price, and ours has been purchased.” Shalom is that feeling of overwhelming relief the moment a debt is paid. We can have peace in Christ because he already paid for our mistakes and failures: they have been forgotten, and our debts which are  impossible for us to pay have been erased. We are free to go after life without being chained down to endless loan payments that leave nothing for us. We are free to enjoy life! 

Shalom also means “whole, complete and well.” Eirene is the Greek word that translates to peace, and it literally means “quietness and rest.” According to Wikipedia, “Shalom, as term and message, seems to encapsulate a reality and hope of wholeness for the individual, within societal relations, and for the whole world...As a noun, Shalom means 'safe, well and happy,' and  welfare, health, and prosperity are implied...In its use in Scripture, Shalom describes the actions that lead to a state of soundness, or better yet wholeness...Shalom seems not to merely speak of a state of affairs, but describes a process, an activity, a movement towards fullness.The wholeness of Shalom, through justice and truth, inspires the words of hope for the work expected by the Messiah, and to refer to its revelation as the time of peace...The Arabic root  for Shalom is salaam, which means 'to be safe, secure, and forgiven.'"

Don’t we all just need and want to be safe, secure and forgiven? And we are. So do not fret, for it leads only to evil. (Psalm 37).

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