Day 1: Shalom Begins with Forgiveness
Bible passage: Luke 7:36–50
Where Shalom Begins
Today is Saturday 1st of January 2022. Welcome to Day 1 of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting! Over the next three weeks we are going to explore one Hebrew word: shalom.
We usually translate it as “peace”, but shalom is far bigger than a quiet moment or the absence of trouble. It means wholeness. It is life put back together the way God intended, with nothing missing and nothing broken.
So where does that kind of peace begin? It does not begin with a calmer diary or a better year. It begins with forgiveness.
A Dinner Party Interrupted
Two People at One Table
In Luke 7, a Pharisee named Simon invites Jesus to dinner. Simon is respected, religious and in control of his evening. Then a woman the whole town knows for the wrong reasons walks in uninvited. She kneels behind Jesus, weeps over His feet, dries them with her hair and pours expensive perfume on them.
Simon is horrified. Jesus is not. He answers with a short story about two people who owed money, one a little and one a fortune, and a lender who cancelled both debts. Then He asks Simon which of the two will love the lender more.
The Same Need
Simon and this woman look like opposites, but they share the same need. Romans 3:23 tells us that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. The difference is what each of them does about it.
Simon hides his need. He offers Jesus a seat at his table, but no water, no welcome and no honour. He keeps his distance and keeps his reputation.
The woman brings her need. She has no reputation left to protect, so she brings Jesus everything: her tears, her past and her worship.
The one who knows how much they have been forgiven is the one who loves much.
Receiving the Peace of Forgiveness
Forgiveness Comes First
Jesus speaks two things over her. First He tells her that her sins are forgiven. Then He says, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:50 (NLT)
The order matters. Forgiveness comes first, and peace follows. Many of us try to feel at peace while still carrying guilt we have never brought to Jesus. It cannot work. Shalom is not something we achieve by trying harder. It is something we receive at His feet.
And we can come with confidence. Psalm 86:15 describes the Lord as compassionate and merciful, slow to anger and overflowing with faithful love. Psalm 103:12 says He removes our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
Three Steps for Today
Come honestly. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything you have been hiding, excusing or explaining away.
Receive fully. When we confess, God is faithful to forgive and to cleanse us (1 John 1:9). Do not hold on to what He has let go.
Pass it on. Is there someone you need to forgive? Forgiven people become forgiving people (Ephesians 4:32).
This woman arrived known for her past. She left known for her love, with the words of Jesus resting on her. As we begin this fast, let us start in the same place: at the feet of Jesus, with nothing hidden.
Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus, thank You that You do not turn me away. I bring You my sin, my shame and the things I have tried to hide. Forgive me and make me whole. Help me to forgive others as You have forgiven me, and let Your peace rule in my heart today. In Your name I pray. Amen.
Keep going
See every day of this guide on our Prayer & Fasting page.
Let us pray with you: send a prayer request.
Join one of our prayer meetings.
