“Shalom I leave you, My shalom I give to you; but not as the world gives! Do not let your heart be troubled or afraid.” — John 14:27 TLV

One of the most difficult lies I’ve had to overcome in life is the belief that I am not enough.

This lie fuels life’s endless “if onlys.”

If only I had more money.
More stuff.
More knowledge.
More relationships.
More trophies.
More security.

Then I would be enough. I would be full. Content.

Unfortunately, the “mores” never fill the void.

We’ve been watching The Chosen, a historical drama television series depicting the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth through the eyes of those who encountered Him. One of the words we often hear the characters say is shalom, and sometimes shalom-shalom.

It’s not a modern word. In English, it is often translated as peace. But biblical peace is far more than the absence of conflict.

Shalom means wholeness—things restored to the way they were meant to be.

And shalom is humankind’s deepest desire. Thinkers across the centuries have noticed this same hunger.

Pascal, a 17th-century mathematician and philosopher, described a “pre-existing hunger” or sense of lost happiness that humans try to fill with anything they can find:

“What else does this craving and this helplessness proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him… though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”

C.S. Lewis popularized a similar theme in Mere Christianity, arguing that if we find desires that nothing in this world can satisfy, it may be a sign that we were made for another world.

Centuries before Pascal, St. Augustine wrote in his Confessions:

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.”

The prophet Isaiah foretold that the Messiah would be called the Prince of Peace and that there would be no end to His shalom (Isaiah 9:6 TLV).

Jesus is Shalom Personified.

The apostle Paul says in Ephesians that Jesus is our peace.

Not just gives it.
Is it.

Much of modern life runs on performance identity, a constant striving after:

Career
Education
Achievements
Social media
Reputation

But the gospel gives us something entirely different.

Received identity.

In Christ we are children of God—welcomed, accepted, and beloved.

Nothing to prove.
A free gift of grace.

In Christ, you already belong.

That is shalom.

The human condition, however, is such that shalom can be difficult to retain.

Hurry fractures it.
Comparison corrodes it.
Control sabotages it.

But gratitude restores it. (Philippians 4:6–8)

Shalom may not be something we “hold onto” as much as something we repeatedly return to.

Run the play. The only thing we ultimately need more of is shalom.

More Jesus.

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Finding Our Place in the Story

Where in your life do you most feel the pressure to prove that you are “enough”?

Which of these tends to rob you of shalom most often: hurry, comparison, or control?

What might it look like this week to stop striving for more and instead receive the peace Jesus already offers?