In Perth, Australia, there’s a place called Shalom House where men struggling with addictions go to find help. At Shalom House, they’ll meet caring staff members who introduce them to God’s shalom (Hebrew for peace). Lives crushed under the weight of addictions to drugs, alcohol, gambling, and other destructive behaviors are being transformed by the love of God.
Central to this transformation is the message of the cross. The broken people of Shalom House discover that through the resurrection of Jesus, they can find their own lives resurrected. In Christ, we gain true peace and healing.
Peace isn’t merely the absence of conflict; it’s the presence of God’s wholeness. All of us need this shalom, and it’s only found in Christ and His Spirit. This is why Paul pointed the Galatians to the Spirit’s transformational work. As the Holy Spirit operates in our lives, He generates His fruit that includes love, joy, patience, and more (Galatians 5:22–23). He gives us that vital element of true, enduring peace.
As the Spirit enables us to live in God’s shalom, we learn to bring our needs and concerns to our heavenly Father. This in turn brings us “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding”—the peace that “will guard [our] hearts and [our] minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
In Christ’s Spirit, our hearts experience true shalom.
By Bill Crowder
REFLECT & PRAY
What things tend to rob you of God’s peace? How will you allow the Spirit to produce His peace in your heart?
God of shalom, thank You that Your desire is for peace to reign in my life. Thank You for the work of Jesus to make peace available and the work of the Spirit whose fruit in my life brings peace.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The biblical teaching of the Holy Spirit is known as pneumatology (from the Greek pneuma). Pneuma means “wind,” “breath,” “air” and indicates an invisible but active entity or force. It’s a word used for the Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity. In the book of Galatians, pneuma appears eighteen times as a reference to the Spirit and helps us in our understanding of the Spirit’s work. Chapter 5 alone includes eight references to God’s Spirit (vv. 5, 16, 17 [2x], 18, 22, 25 [2x]). The Spirit inspires hope (v. 5), and empowers us for God-honoring living (v. 16) and fruitfulness that includes “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (vv. 22–23).
Arthur Jackson
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