“Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) (Sephardic Hebrew/Israeli Hebrew: shalom; Ashkenazi Hebrew/Yiddish: sholom, sholem, sholoim, shulem) is a Hebrew word meaning peace, completeness, prosperity, and welfare and can be used idiomatically to mean both hello and goodbye.”
As part of a new home church expression our family is a part of, we’ve spent some time researching other churches from around the country. We found this definition of “Shalom” on a church website in Denver, Colorado: '"Shalom' is the Hebrew word for 'peace.' It means something like everything in its place, flourishing as God intends."
I love that definition because helping others flourish through the transformation that the Father offers is at the heart of everything we feel called to:
OFB – helping organizations and their leaders find a transcendent purpose and best practices to help intend Kingdom purposes
Alamo Band of Brothers – helping men find the restoration, healing, freedom, and purpose Jesus sacrificed for them to find
SWE - transforming lives through transforming homes
Purpose Project – our formative plan to help our team members (employees at SWE) work and live more fully in their unique abilities and desires
SummitTrek Strategic LifePlan – a guided retreat that helps you find the life you were meant to live
SummitTrek Strategic Enterprise - helping organizations find their ultimate success as they refine mission, values, purpose, and strategic initiatives
SummitTrek Legacy Plan – designing a plan to help your family generationally anchor as you define mission, values, purpose for your family
Proof Project – caring for others in need through acts of service on their homes
City Transformation Movement – transforming the city through uniting leaders from the seven pillars of society
As an information junkie for many years, I tried to read every book, attend every seminar, and attach to every thought leader that I hoped could fill my tank. Unfortunately, like many leaders, the integrity gap between what I knew and the transformation I found in my life and encouraged in others, was vast. I lived in the uncomfortable tension of knowing much, but finding little.
“We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
It is in living the transformed life you were uniquely created to live where God’s glory is most manifest. It is the catalyst for others in our world as we “unconsciously give others permission to the do the same”. I would say that a little stronger: Our living the life we were meant to live makes it incontrovertible for them to live any other life. It is highly disruptive to the status quo.
By aligning with people and organizations with a heartbeat for transformation, I find that it pretty much requires I do the same. It also means that I have very little energy for anything (or anyone) that doesn’t.
- Are you, your family, or the organizations you lead, living the lives you were created to live?
- Are you finding a transformed life and permissioning others to do the same?
- What needs to change in order for you to find that sort of life?