What Is the Answer to Life?

What is the answer to life? Some say money. Others say family. Some wouldn’t say it outright, but their lives demonstrate it: they believe drugs are the answer to life. But the Bible is clear—the answer is a person: Jesus.

Money can solve a lot of material problems. It can attract people—like gold diggers—but all of that ultimately leads to dissatisfaction. Family can be incredibly meaningful, especially because it pushes you to think beyond yourself. But even this, if done apart from God, can lead to pitfalls—like living through your children. It can amplify how you deal with problems, creating trenches in your mind that are hard to escape. Drugs offer a momentary escape but never a lasting solution.

But Jesus, who is the true answer, provides lasting peace. He transforms your character and gives your life deep, abiding purpose—far beyond anything money, family, or drugs could ever offer.

How do we relate to Jesus?Prayer.Yes, Scripture is important—especially when paired with prayer. The Bible is the only book where you sit down with the Author as you read it. Without Him, you misread what He’s saying, often resulting in legalism. Yes, there are correct ways of reading and interpreting the Bible, which you can learn through studying hermeneutics—but that’s for another time.

Too often, we think of prayer only as a list. Corey Russell says, “When you think prayer, you think list. But when I think prayer, I think person. ”We treat God like a vending machine instead of a person. This shows up in how we approach Him—monologue instead of dialogue. Or we might let Him speak, but only while we silently think about what we want. But prayer is a dialogue. And God knows the posture of our hearts when we come to Him.

Some people may find it strange to compare our relationship with Jesus to a marriage or a deep friendship. But if we want to mature spiritually, we must lay aside what we want and pursue Him above all else.

Scripture says to pray without ceasing. But how do we do that? Eric Gilmour says that prayer is more than words—it’s awareness.

A book I’ve been really into lately—Experiencing the Presence of Jesus Christ—talks about this kind of awareness. It says that to experience His presence, we must realize that as Christians, we have received Jesus not only as Savior but also as Lord. The Holy Spirit has made His home in us.

Just giving attention to that—being aware of it—is so profound that our communication with the Lord becomes amplified. Simply acknowledging that He is in the room is like recognizing your spouse.

I can’t count how many times I’ve heard people say, “I just don’t feel seen. ”This kind of awareness lets us live life while remaining in prayer—while abiding in the Vine.

Brother Lawrence used to wash dishes while radiating God’s presence, and people from around the world would come just to be near him and feel it. You can be taking care of your kids and praying. You can mow the lawn and pray. We are not limited to the prayer closet.

But at the same time, if all you do is interact with the Lord during your busy day and you neglect the prayer closet entirely, that’s also not good.

Here’s a comparison I want to make: Children act differently when their parents are in the room versus when they’re not. Likewise, we act differently when we know that Jesus is with us—and in us.

This awareness doesn’t mean we now try harder in our own strength. Paul said, “I try to do good but I don’t.” The context of that passage points to what happens when we strive in our flesh instead of abiding in the Spirit.

Jesus is the answer. When we are truly connected to Him in spirit, things begin to flow naturally. The early Church often just “happened” to say or do the right thing—often with great boldness in the face of persecution.

Our love for Jesus should be like high school sweethearts—The kind that gross people out because they’re practically wearing the same pants. But unlike high school relationships that crash when everything else falls apart, our relationship with Jesus is different. He is faithful to see it through to the end.

That’s why I love The Song of Songs. Her love for her lover was unmatched—she was willing to abandon everything, even her own dignity, for love.

That book I mentioned earlier talks about this kind of abandonment. A love that tears up our lists—our desires, our needs, our wants—and counts it all as loss compared to the face and fullness of Jesus.

There will be seasons where He doesn’t manifest as strongly, or where His answers come slower than we want. But if He is truly enough, we won’t wander the wilderness like the children of Israel—longer than He intended.

We must be careful not to strive in those seasons, because that’s our natural tendency. Like a child who tries to do what worked before to get their parent’s attention, we can fall into performance.

But God's goal is to mature us to look like Christ. Can we authentically love Jesus without constantly inserting our needs? He is not a robot—and treating Him like one only reveals our lack of trust.

Jesus is life itself. Life without Him isn’t worth living. Money, family, and drugs don’t even compare. But family with Him—oh, that’s amplified.

I’ve heard people say that after they got saved, the grass was greener and the sky was bluer. We can live in that place daily. We don’t have to go back to a dull and boring world.