There is a direct and inseparable correlation between how we treat people and our knowledge of God. Hosea makes this connection unmistakably in Hosea 4:1:
“Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, for the Lord has a cause against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land.”
The phrases “no faithfulness,” “no kindness,” and “no knowledge of God” form parallel lines that intensify one another and expose the spiritual condition of the northern kingdom. The first two describe how the people treated one another; the third describes their relationship with Yahweh. The parallelism shows that a breakdown in knowing God resulted in a breakdown in their treatment of others.
Here is the takeaway: true knowledge of God always produces transformed relationships, and a lack of godly character toward others reveals a deficient or distorted relationship with God.
We know our salvation is in Christ, but consider this: might the correlation between knowing God and how we treat others help explain why Paul wrote, “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified”? Knowing Jesus Christ doesn’t merely transform our inner life—it reshapes our relationships as well.
It’s certainly something worth reflecting on.
No comments:
Post a Comment