Table of Contents
Examples of those who love others more than God
Prophet Moses instructed the Israelites to love the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their strength (De 6:5) and to love their neighbor as themselves (Lev 19:18). Jesus Christ of Nazareth later came to shed more light on this commandment from Moses and He rendered it this way,
30 ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mr 12:30-31 NKJV)
Jesus Christ prioritized loving God over loving others including your mother, father, children, and friends. In the past, loving God consisted of performing your religious obligations which included burnt offerings and sacrifices and the observation of the religious feasts. And more importantly, loving God consisted of obedience to His commandments. Observation of religious obligations and the commandments of God constituted one’s love for God.
However, some people proved to love their family and friends more than God. They did so by listening or obeying them to sin against God. The Bible has the account of some of these people who showed less love for God and rather, showed more love for their family and friends. They are:
1. Adam loved Eve more than God
A long time ago, after God had created the earth and everything in it, He created man. Now God planted a garden full of fruitful trees and animals around a great river in a place called Eden. Now in the middle of the garden, God put two trees, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. Now God took Adam, the man He had made, and put him in the garden that He had made and commanded him, saying,
“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (Genesis 2:17).”
Adam continued to obey God’s command. Later, God created a woman for Adam and she lived with him in the garden. One day, it happened that the devil deceived the woman to eat the forbidden fruit, and after having eaten it, she took some and brought it to Adam to eat. Then Adam listened to his wife, took the forbidden fruit, and ate it to disobey God’s command; hence the fall of man.
God was much displeased and He made it clear to Adam that he, Adam, had chosen his wife over Him, God. God said to Adam, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; ….” Reference – Genesis 2–3. Adam’s action proved that he loves his wife more than God.
2. Amnon loved Jonadab more than God
Now Absalom, David’s son, had a beautiful sister from one mother called Tamar, who was a virgin. With time, Amnon, David’s firstborn, loved Tamar and he was so obsessed with her that he fell ill because of Tamar. Amnon had a friend called Jonadab who was very crafty. When Jonadab saw that Amnon was not in a good mood, he convinced Amnon to tell him his problem. And Amnon told him that he was so much in love with Tamar. But Amnon did not know how to get her.
5 Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand (2 Samuel 13:5).’”
So Amnon listened to Jonadab’s advice and lay down, pretending to be sick. When his father, King David, came to see him, Amnon pleaded with him to let his sister Tamar come and make some cakes for him to eat. Then David sent for Tamar and made her go to her brother Amnon’s house and prepare food for him. There, she took dough and kneaded it, and made cakes with it. And when she took the food to Amnon to eat, he refused to eat. Amon had everybody in his chamber go out, leaving him and Tamar.
Then Amnon asked Tamar to bring the food closer so that he might eat from her hand. When Tamar came closer to Amnon to feed him, he seized her and demanded that she should have sex with him. She refused and pleaded with him not to do such an outrageous thing. But Amnon would not listen to her, and being stronger than her, he raped her. And afterward, he sacked Tamar from his house. Amnon did according to what his friend Jonadab told him; he listened to his friend and committed incest to disobey God, proving that he loves or cherishes his bad friend more than God. Reference 2 Samuel 13
3. King Solomon loved his wives more than God
God told the Israelites that they should not intermarry with the heathen people; they should not give their daughters in marriage to their son nor take their daughters for their sons in marriage. However, some notable Israelites breached this law and Solomon was one of them.
The first foreign woman Solomon got married to was a princess of Egypt. After her, the Bible says, “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites (1 Kings 11:1).” Over time, these women requested a favor from King Solomon that he should build them shrines where they can also worship their native idols on the land of Israel.
Solomon listened to them because he loved them and he built shrines and high places for his pagan wives so that they could worship their native gods such as Ashtoreth, Molek, etc (1 Kings 11:5-7). We all know very well that these deeds of Solomon, building shrines and high places and perpetuating the worship of foreign gods in Israel, is a grave sin against the Lord, which is also called wickedness (Deuteronomy 17:1-7). King Solomon by his deeds proved that he loved his wives, his pagan wives, more than God. Solomon’s life is a good example for understanding Matthew 10:37 and Luke 14:26.
4. Ahab loved Jezebel more than God
King Ahab of Israel would have been a wicked king anyway for that is the way of the kings of Israel. However, he was more wicked than anyone had expected and he offended God so much. Ahab’s wickedness was not out of the blue because he was married to Jezebel, a very evil woman. Jezebel’s influence was so profound on King Ahab. In Ahab’s name, this evil woman killed Naboth, killed prophets, established the cult of Baal in Israel, etc. Ahab was nothing more than a puppet in the hands of his beloved wife Jezebel and the Bible testified, saying,
There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited (1 Kings 21:25).
King Ahab’s life is a good example for us to understand Matthew 10:37 and Luke 14:26 because he loved his wife more than God.
5. Ahaziah loved Athaliah more than God
Ahaziah became king after the death of his father King Jehoram. He was twenty-two years old when he began to reign and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter of Ahab. This young man did not fear the Lord for he perpetuated idol worship in the kingdom to displease God. The Bible links the sins of this young king to his mother, Athaliah. She was the one who badly influenced her son with bad advice to turn him into an idolatrous, wicked king. The Bible says
“3 He [King Ahaziah] also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counseller to do wickedly.
This young king’s reign lasted for a year, for he died a tragic death at the hands of Jehu just a year into his reign. However, his life is a good example for understanding Matthew 10:37 and Luke 14:26 because he loved and listened to his mother more than God. Reference – 2 Kings 9:16-29
Conclusion
The truth is God wants the best of everything. He wants your best and most valuable sacrifice. That is why he rejected Cain’s sacrifice and accepted Abel’s because Abel gave Him one of his best sheep as a sacrifice. Again, God wants and demands the best of your love. Though you are to love others, you should love God above all else.