Sounds pretty straightforward. And yet I see people and institutions fail at this simple task over and over.
So….what are the steps to solving a problem?
Have a good hard honest look at the truth of the situation. Forget about your appetites. Forget about your politics. Forget about what will get you ahead. Forget about what you want. Forget everything that the “talking heads” have told you. Focus on the truth. This will be hard work, because there is a lot of bad data out there…….and almost every source has an element of bias and manipulation. No matter how absurd an idea that appeals to you is, you can find a dozen “experts” on the web who will tell you that you are right. Apply this test…….if it doesn’t line up with the command to love God and to love your neighbor…….throw it out.
Accurately identify the problem. Don’t get distracted by the most immediate symptom. Dig down to the root cause. For example: the problem of climate change………no………it’s not “greenhouse gases”………..the root problem is overpopulation. Trying to solve climate change by attacking CO² is like trying to cure your brain tumor by taking aspirin for the headache.
Tease out the part of the problem that you can affect…….the part of the situation that you can change. Don’t waste your time coming up with changes that somebody else should make. As a general rule……..other people don’t change…….but you can. Stop yelling at the other guy and quietly change your own behavior.Do something concrete to fix the part of the problem that you can affect. Don’t waste your time whining about the other guy and his failures.
So……. what is wrong with our world?
If you dig down through the symptoms to the root cause, you will find that the problem is us……. every last one of us. The problem is that we keep doing things that are wrong…… some of us more than others……but all of us, nonetheless. This is sin. And don’t kid yourself…… we do it every day.
So…… what is sin?
Sin is anything that separates us from our creator. Sin is any act or thought or belief that violates rules number one and two…… love God……love your neighbor. Sin destroys us by defeating the only reason for our existence…..loving.
SIN DESTROYS US………BY DEFEATING THE ONLY REASON FOR OUR EXISTENCE…….LOVING.
So……..how do we fix our world?
Stop complaining about the other guy. Stop being angry at “them”……whoever “they” are for you today.
Find someone today and show them your love in a concrete way. Start in your family but then move on to strangers. Then start cleaning up the parts of your life where love is missing.
That’s all.
Then get up tomorrow and do it again.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
Paul, NIV
We love because he first loved us.
John, NIV