The Biggest Problem The World is Facing and How We Can Fix It
The world has been through a lot in 2020, hasn't it? From hornets that kill bees (That story died quickly by the way!) to global pandemics and racism. It seems like we've seen it all, haven't we? Although these three things are all making for a tough year, the biggest problem the world is facing isn't any of these things directly. I'll explain in this post and also how we can fix it.
Listen to the Good Christian Podcast episode about this post:"The Solution to The World's Biggest Problem"
Before I get to the biggest problem the world is facing and explaining what each of us can do to fix it, I want to share a few things that are heavy on my heart.
- It's an election year which, always means "crap is going to hit the ceiling for no particular reason." (Translation, don't believe everything you hear and see, it's not all real.)
- The world isn't doing as bad as you think; according to the book Factfulness, it's getting safer and healthier. (Most of us believe more lies than we even realize.)
- Everything is going to get a whole lot worse as times goes on if Christian's don't stand up and do what they are called to do. (Yes, I'm talking about you!)
Okay, now that we've cleared things up and given some data-driven perspective on where we're at right now, we can dive into the biggest problem the world is facing right now.To clarify once again, the single bigger problem the world is facing is not COVID-19, it's not the economy tanking, it's not racism (but read this), it's not sexism, it's not Democrats, it's not Republicans, it's not police brutality. (...Is the suspense killing you yet???)
All of these things are simply byproducts of a much deeper rooted issue. The real problem is that we lack love for one another.
I want to shift gears here for a moment. In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus was asked the following question:
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
We can all agree that if someone knew which commandment was the greatest, Jesus was our guy. So to recap what Jesus says the most important rule for every human being to follow:
Love God, and love people.
A common question that I'm asked on this topic is this:
"Why, when Jesus was asked which commandment was the greatest, did he respond with sharing two commandments?"
First off, this is a very insightful question! The reason Jesus answered with both commandments is because you cannot have one without the other. ...Let me repeat that, you cannot love God without loving people and you cannot love people without loving God.One of my favorite posts here on DailyPS was written by my friend Ben Baxter. He dives deeper into this topic of loving others, here it is: The Lost Art of Loving Your Neighbor.
The biggest problem the world is facing is a lack of love, and Christians are the only solution to solve this problem.
Christian or not, everyone needs to learn to be more empathetic toward one another. But even that will only help so much. The problem is a lack of love, and the one people who can truly understand what love is are those of us who have chosen to live for Jesus.
Let me give you the supreme definition of love:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Let me quickly summarize: God made the world, humans broke it, God sent his one and only Son to earth to pay for our wrongdoings. But, Jesus had the choice to die for us or not, knowing everything we'd do wrong, past present and future, and still said, "I'd still die for him/her." (Watch this video if you want to cry)
4 Ways Christians can begin to fix the broken world:
#1. The greater our love is for God, the more projected it will be in our actions toward those around us.
It all starts and ends with your level of intimacy with God. Devote time to spend time with God. Fall more in love with Him; on this, you will set the foundation for how you love others around you.
#2. Love is a verb; without action, it is merely a word.
In order to love people around you, action has to be behind the word. What are you doing to show the love of God to those around you? Way back in May 2020, I posted an article titled 5 Things You Can Do Today to Help the World Get Better, I encourage you to go give that a read to get some ideas for what you can do to actively love those around you.
#3. Love people for who they are instead of judging them for who they are not.
In 2020 people are more diverse than ever before. As the world becomes more accessible by all, we have more people from different parts of the world together; people have different sexuality preferences, people have different political views, people are just straight-up DIFFERENT these days. But when did it become okay to dislike or even hate someone because they are different? For Christians, that has never been an option, but we're acting like it is now. It's time to stop judging those around you. Love them for WHO THEY ARE.Let me remind you who they are; they are human beings created in the image of God and God's Son Jesus DIED FOR THEM. Christians, we need to treat each other and the world better than we have been. (If you get one thing from this post, let it be this!)
#4. What really changes people is the revelation of God's love.
Listen here gang, (Yes, I've always wanted to say that) we can all be nicer to each other and get along great, but at the end of the day, nothing is going to change UNLESS people have the revelation of God's love.Here's the deal, I know many people who are not Christians who read this blog. And on the other hand, some 'Christians' don't really get it either. What I am saying is that, there is the potential that when you read John 3:16 above and my summary of what love means, that those two things didn't mean a thing to you. (And that's fine, not judging you!) But, unless we truly have a revelation and our eyes are open to what this means, we'll never be able to be part of the solution that the world needs right now. It all starts with us gaining this revelation of God's love.
In conclusion, I have two thoughts that I want to end with (Yes, only two... You're welcome)
First, I encourage you to take some time today to read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. More powerful than anything that I could ever write is the word of God. Take 3 minutes and read it; it is such a powerful reminder. If you can remember to do one thing today, remember to love God and the people that He places in your path today.Second, what I just wrote up has been very difficult for me. I've been fasting social media for months now. I despise racism, I'm super angry that Republicans and Demarcates have both lost sight of what matters and it's just about power and money, and it makes me sad to see friendships end over posts on social media. Protecting my own heart has been difficult and I've had to back away from many things.But you know what? It's worth it. I'm now able to love people better than I was before. And since I've separated myself from mainstream media and the world's influence in my life, I've been more connected with God and loving the people He places in my path, and as a result, I've realized the world ain't so bad after all... Love you all.