How we treat people is how we treat God

We like our "faith" clean. We like it in quiet sanctuaries, during Sunday morning worship, or in the peaceful silence of our early morning devotionals. In those moments, loving God feels natural. It’s a vertical relationship, us looking up to a perfect, holy Creator.

But scripture refuses to let us keep our faith in the clouds. Again and again, the Bible pulls our gaze downward and outward, delivering a challenging truth:  How we treat people is how we treat God.

The Matthew 25 standard

If we ever wonder how Jesus measures a faithful life, we only have to look at His words in Matthew 25. He describes a moment of final judgment where the King separates the people like sheep from goats.

To those on His right, He says, "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink..."

The righteous are confused. They ask, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty?"

And the King delivers the ultimate paradigm shift:

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40, NIV)

Jesus didn't say that serving the broken was like serving Him. He said it is serving Him. Conversely, when we ignore, dismiss, or mistreat others, we are doing that directly to Christ.

The "Image of God" in the Annoying and the Broken

It’s easy to love God when He is abstract. It’s much harder to love Him when He is wearing the face of:

• The coworker who took credit for your project.
• The driver who cut you off in traffic.
• The family member who sits on the opposite side of the political aisle.
• The homeless person asking for change on your commute.

Genesis 1:27 tells us that God created mankind in His own image, the Imago Dei. This means every single human being you lock eyes with today possesses inherent dignity, worth, and a reflection of the Creator.

When we gossip about a neighbor, we are defacing God's image. When we extend grace to someone who doesn't deserve it, we are honoring the God who made them.

The Reality Check

The Apostle John put it with devastating clarity in his first letter:

"Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen." (1 John 4:20)

John doesn't pull any punches here. He is telling us that our vertical relationship with God is directly validated—or invalidated—by our horizontal relationships with people. We cannot lift our hands in worship on Sunday and use our tongues to tear people down on Monday.

A New Way to Walk Through the World

Imagine how our daily lives would change if we actually lived like this was true.

Every interaction would become a holy moment. Checking out at the grocery store, answering an email, or dealing with a difficult child would no longer be mundane tasks or disruptions. They would be opportunities to love Jesus in real-time.

The next time you feel your patience wearing thin, or find yourself tempted to write someone off, take a breath and remember: Christ is hiding in that person. How will you treat Him?

* Created with the assistance of AI