Perhaps we could get an idea of what wholeness means by looking at the polar opposite. Let’s go back to the story of the man whose mind and soul were so devastated that he was living in the hills and among the tombs along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, a constant danger to himself. Here’s how Mark’s Gospel describes the scene. Jesus has just arrived with his disciples. Intent on delivering the man, he commands the demon to identify itself, and he gets this reply: “Legion, because there are many of us inside this man” (5:9). A multitude of demons infesting the man, each vying for space inside him, fragmenting his soul and shattering his mind.
To be whole is to be the opposite of this ruined man. It is to be complete, unbroken, sound in body, soul, and spirit. It is to be as God intended you to be before sin came and wrecked everything—including you.
We know that Christ restored this man to his right mind. If he was able to do that for such an extreme case, why do we doubt he can help us? Scripture tells us the peace of Christ rules in our hearts when the word of Christ richly dwells within us (see Colossians 3:16, niv). The word richly implies fullness, abundance. If Jesus is not richly dwelling within us, something else will be—conflict, worry, strife, bitterness, anxiety, greed, guilt, envy, anger, lust. A thousand things can fill us, crowding out the life of God and creating divisions within our souls. No heart is perfectly unbroken in this broken world. But we can be confident that the heart set on Christ, committed to living by his Word, is being restored to his likeness and kept in his peace.
