{"id":125,"date":"2016-12-15T06:00:32","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T06:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=125"},"modified":"2016-12-15T12:20:12","modified_gmt":"2016-12-15T12:20:12","slug":"love-god-loving-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/love-god-loving-others.html","title":{"rendered":"We Love God By Loving Others"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"unsplash.com\"
unsplash.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

6\u00a0<\/span>This is what the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0says:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cFor three sins of Israel,<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>even for four, I will not relent.<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\nThey sell the innocent for silver,<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and the needy for a pair of sandals.<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\n7\u00a0<\/span>They trample on the heads of the poor<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>as on the dust of the ground<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and deny justice to the oppressed.<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\nFather and son use the same girl<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/em>and so profane my holy name.<\/em> Amos 2:6-7<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If you were an Israelite hearing the prophecy of Amos, you would have cheered on his opening and would have never seen the right hook coming. Amos starts his prophecy by calling out and condemning all of Israel’s neighboring foes: Damascus, Tyre, Gaza, Edom, Ammon, Moab and even Judah. Anyone who had given Israel headaches, God was going to judge. And then Amos turned his sights on Israel herself.<\/p>\n

What’s interesting isn’t necessarily that God was going to judge Israel, but what God was going to judge Israel for. You could have easily assumed it would be lack of devotion or perhaps not enough religious zeal, but God focuses on the mistreatment of others. God will judge Israel because her people mistreat each other.<\/p>\n

As odd as that sounds, in actuality it’s not. Since I’ve had kids, I learned that the easiest way to get on my bad side is to mistreat my kids. You can say or do anything you want to me, and I should be able to handle it. But if you hurt my kids, mistreat my kids or take advantage of my kids, then it’s on. I am zealous for my kids and will fight for them, as any loving parent would do.<\/p>\n

Here’s the kicker: every single person walking on this planet has a Heavenly Father who created them on purpose and loves them relentlessly. When you mistreat other people, you’re harming one of God’s prized children. Many times we try and separate love for God from love for others. The religious leaders tried to do that when they asked Jesus what the most important commandment was. But Jesus wouldn’t let them off the hook. In Matthew 22 Jesus says we’re supposed to love God and love others. You can’t pick either or. It needs to be both.<\/p>\n

You love God by<\/em> loving others. Just as harming my children will invoke my wrath, when I see others loving for, spending time with, helping and protecting my children, I love those people all the more. There’s just something about having kids that makes you jealous for them. It’s the same with how we treat others. God is a jealous God. When you mistreat others, you’re slapping God in the face. God doesn’t like to be slapped in the face.<\/p>\n

That’s why Israel was judged so harshly although the religious rituals might have looked fine on the outside.\u00a0We love God by loving others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

6\u00a0This is what the\u00a0Lord\u00a0says: \u201cFor three sins of Israel, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and the needy for a pair of sandals. 7\u00a0They trample on the heads of the poor \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0as on the dust of the ground \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[27,61,72],"class_list":["post-125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-next-steps","tag-god","tag-love","tag-others"],"yoast_head":"\nWe Love God By Loving Others - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The quickest way to get on my bad side is to mistreat my kids. 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