“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever. “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? (Jeremiah 7:5-10 ESV)
The Lord, through Jeremiah, exposes the false faith of the people of Jerusalem. They said they believed in God, and even regularly worshiped in the temple, but their lives did not reflect it. They lived as the culture dictated, bowing before the god that promised to give them what they wanted. They pursued every advantage in business and in social standing, without thought as to who that might negatively affect. The Lord calls this oppression. Their lives do not reflect a love of neighbor and a seeking of justice, which are merely reflections of God.
The reality is that you can find out what god you truly worship by looking at the way you love, because you reflect him. Does your life reflect The Lord? Faith in The Lord leads to a life that reflects His attributes.
Thus says the Lord : “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23, 24 ESV)
