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The other day I was driving down the road running a few errands when one of my favorite songs from the 1970s came on the radio. Anyone who has ever ridden in the car with me already knows what happens next. I cannot drive without singing along with the music. If a good song comes on, I’m singing it. So, there I was, happily belting out the lyrics to “Love Is the Answer” by England Dan and John Ford Coley, when suddenly something in the words stopped me cold.

For the first time in years, I really listened to what I was singing, and it struck me that there was a huge chasm between the hopeful words of that song and the reality of the world we are living in today.

Think about the world at the widest level. Nations are at war. Missiles fly across borders. Bombs fall from the sky. Entire regions of the world seem locked in endless cycles of conflict. The Middle East is unstable again, and the news reminds us daily how fragile peace can be.

Then the division moves a little closer to home. Entire religions often stand in tension with one another. For centuries there has been deep distrust between parts of the Islamic world and the Christian world. Fear grows on both sides, and suspicion replaces understanding.

Move a little closer still, and we begin to see divisions even within Christianity itself. Denominations sometimes look at each other with skepticism. Some groups accuse others of drifting from the truth. Others respond by dismissing their critics as narrow or judgmental. In some circles people even go so far as to label another Christian group a cult.

And if that were not enough, the divisions continue even within individual churches. Cultural issues divide congregations. Questions about morality divide believers. Differences over how worship should look or feel sometimes create tension among people who all claim to love the same Savior.

Some people long for quiet reverence, ancient prayers, incense, and bells. Others prefer contemporary music, warm greetings, and a more relaxed style of gathering. None of those preferences are necessarily wrong. Yet sometimes even those differences can quietly grow into something deeper than preference.

Differences can grow into division.

But the funnel narrows even further. Those same disagreements that begin in the world around us eventually spill into our homes. Friends stop speaking to friends. Parents and children find themselves arguing over politics or culture. Family gatherings become tense because people are afraid that one wrong comment might ignite another debate.

This begs the question.

What is missing?

If we step back and look honestly at the world—from global conflicts all the way down to strained relationships within our own families—one thing seems painfully absent.

Love!

And that is exactly what struck me as I sat there in the car listening to that old song again. The lyrics describe a lonely world where people feel unheard and where others simply turn their heads and walk on by.

Then the chorus came around again.

“Light of the world, shine on me.
Love is the answer.
Shine on us all, set us free.
Love is the answer.”

The song never mentions Jesus by name, yet that phrase immediately caught my attention.

“Light of the world.”

For Christians, those words point directly to something Jesus once said about Himself: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Think about that for a moment. The world is constantly searching for answers to conflict and division. We debate policies, argue positions, and defend our opinions. Yet two thousand years ago Jesus gave an answer that was both simple and incredibly difficult to live.

Love one another.

Not only when people agree with us.
Not only when they vote like we do.
Not only when they worship exactly the way we prefer.

Love one another.

Jesus even said this love would be the identifying mark of His followers: “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

As I finished that drive, the lyrics of that old song sounded different to me than they ever had before. The songwriter may not have fully realized it, but he was pointing toward a truth that Christians have known for centuries.

From the conflicts between nations all the way down to the arguments that divide families, the answer has never changed.

“Light of the world, shine on me. Love is the answer.”

And as we move through this Holy Week, with Easter just days away, we are reminded where that love was most clearly revealed. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). On the Cross, Jesus did exactly that. He did not simply talk about love. He demonstrated it in the most complete and sacrificial way possible.

That is the love we are called to receive, and that is the love we are called to live.

With Easter right in front of us, we all need to ask ourselves a simple but challenging question. Are we becoming more loving, more caring, more willing to reach out to others in the way Christ has reached out to us, or are we part of the division that is tearing our world apart?

As Christians, we know that Christ is the Light of the World.

And the answer He gave us is still the same today.

Love is the answer!

Heavenly Father, help me remember that before I am anything else in this world, I am first called to follow Your Son. When division and disagreement surround me, guide my heart back to the command Jesus gave us to love one another. Shine the light of Christ into my life so that His love shapes my words, my actions, and the way I treat others each day. May that light shine through me so that even in a divided world, others may see a glimpse of Your peace and mercy. Amen.

Have a Blessed Holy Week and a Joyous Easter everyone!

AMDG

AMDG is a Latin abbreviation for “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam,” which means “For the Greater Glory of God.”

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Brian Pusateri

Brian is a Christian author and speaker. Brian, a lifelong Catholic, felt his life was forever changed when God spoke to his heart while attending an eight day silent Christian retreat in November of 2011. Soon after that retreat Brian founded 4th Day Letters and Broken Door Ministries. With the God inspired message of mercy and unconditional love that was placed on his heart during that retreat, Brian has been impacting others all over the country and around the world with his weekly letters, his talks, and his all day Christian retreats. In June of 2014, Brian’s life was again impacted in a very dramatic way when his eyesight suddenly became permanently impaired. The initial diagnosis was Multiple Scleroses (MS) but in December of 2019 the diagnosis was corrected to MOG antibody disease, a rare neurological disease. This health challenge has only served to draw Brian closer to God and bolster the importance of this timely yet ageless message.

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