Peace is more than the absence of conflict.
Peace is shalom—the wholeness God intended from the beginning.
In fact, ways that the word Shalom can be used/understood include: peace, wholeness, inner calm, safety, prosperity, health, rest, blessing, welfare, unity, friendship, tranquility, truthfulness, good fortune, divine gift, AND MORE!
It is life knit together with God, with neighbor, and within our own hearts.
When Jesus steps into the world, He brings a peace wide enough to hold every part of us.
Jesus makes a way for us to live at peace with our neighbors. He blesses the peacemakers and calls them children of God. He tells us to forgive seventy times seven, to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us.
Paul takes it further: “So far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Not because everyone will agree with us, but because the Kingdom looks like reconciliation. Because Jesus broke down “the dividing wall of hostility” and made one new humanity in Himself.
Jesus also makes a way for peace within ourselves. He says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He invites the weary and burdened to come and find rest. He breathes on His disciples and says, “Peace be with you,” not as a wish but as a gift. The Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words, holding our anxieties when our strength runs out. And the peace of God, Paul says, “guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” A peace that does not ignore fear, but stands with us in it. Because of what Jesus has done, we can live at peace with ourselves; not a life of competing, craving, critiquing… but a life of inner peace and contentment.
And Jesus makes a way for peace with God. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We are reconciled by His blood. We have access to grace. We are no longer strangers and outsiders, but members of God’s household. Jesus offers living water to the thirsty, welcomes prodigals home, and calls us friends. Through Him we learn that God is not against us. God is for us. God is with us.
Peace with neighbor.
Peace within.
Peace with God.
This is not something we manufacture — It is something we receive.
Something we practice.
Something we carry into the world as followers of Jesus.
In a time of conflict, scarcity, violence, and fear, we become people who sow peace—who speak gently, forgive freely, serve humbly, and stand with those who are hurting.
Jesus is our peace.
Jesus is the One who heals what is broken.
Jesus is the One who leads us into shalom. Into God’s Kingdom.
So we breathe in His peace.
We live out His peace.
We bear witness to His peace in a world that desperately needs it.
Go in peace, to love and serve each other…
Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord.