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Objective

In this lesson, we’ll discover how Ruth’s faithful love demonstrates God’s own loving-kindness and shows us how to live with commitment, courage, and grace in our relationships.

Key Verse

1 John 4:7: Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Introduction

When life becomes difficult and uncertain, we discover what kind of people we really are. Some people retreat into selfishness, thinking only of their own comfort and security. Others choose a different path—they choose faithful love, even when it costs them everything.

The Book of Ruth tells one of the most beautiful love stories in all of Scripture, but it’s not the romantic love story you might expect. Instead, it’s the story of a young woman who chose loyal, sacrificial love over personal convenience. Ruth’s story takes place during the dark period of the judges, when everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Yet in the midst of this spiritual darkness, Ruth shines like a bright star, showing us what faithful love looks like in practice.

Ruth was a Moabite woman—a Gentile from a nation that worshiped false gods and had a long history of conflict with Israel. She was not born into God’s covenant people, yet she chose to identify with them and their God. As a foreigner who had every reason to abandon her widowed mother-in-law and return to the security of her own people, Ruth made a remarkable decision that would change everything. Instead, she made a choice that would change the course of history. Her decision to love faithfully, even in uncertainty, not only blessed those around her but also placed her in the family line of King David and ultimately of Jesus Christ himself.

(Notebook Moment: Think about a time when someone showed you faithful love during a difficult season. How did their loyalty impact your life?)

The story of Ruth reveals that God delights to use ordinary people who choose extraordinary love. Through Ruth’s example, we learn that faithful love is not just a feeling—it’s a choice we make again and again, especially when circumstances make it difficult. Her life demonstrates the very character of God, who shows us hesed—that Hebrew word for loyal, covenant love that never gives up.

As we explore Ruth’s story together, we’ll see five principles that can transform how we love others:

• Choose commitment over convenience
• Put faith into action
• Trust God through uncertainty
• Love across boundaries
• Practice God’s loving-kindness

Choose Commitment Over Convenience

The first principle we learn from Ruth is perhaps the most challenging: we must choose commitment over convenience. When faced with difficult circumstances, our natural tendency is to look for the easiest path forward. Ruth faced exactly this choice when tragedy struck her family.

Ruth 1:16-17: But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

These words represent one of the most beautiful expressions of commitment in all of literature. Notice what Ruth was choosing. She was choosing an uncertain future with an elderly, bitter woman over the security of returning to her own family in Moab. She was choosing poverty over potential prosperity. She was choosing to follow a God she was just beginning to know over the familiar gods of her childhood.

Ruth’s choice was costly and courageous. She had every reasonable excuse to return home. Naomi herself urged both her daughters-in-law to go back to their mothers’ houses and find new husbands. Orpah, Ruth’s sister-in-law, made the practical choice and returned to Moab with tears and kisses. But Ruth made a different choice—she chose love over logic, commitment over convenience.

This same principle appears throughout Scripture. When Jesus called His disciples, He asked them to make choices that didn’t always make sense from a worldly perspective.

Matthew 16:24-25: Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

We see this faithful commitment in other biblical characters as well. Abraham left the security of Ur when God called him to an unknown land. Daniel refused to compromise his convictions even when it meant facing the lions’ den. In each case, these faithful servants chose obedience to God over personal comfort.

The truth is that genuine love always requires sacrifice. When we choose commitment over convenience, we mirror the character of God himself, who chose to love us even when it cost him everything.

Romans 12:1-2: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Put Faith into Action

Ruth teaches us that genuine faith always expresses itself through practical action. It’s not enough to speak beautiful words about loyalty and love—we must demonstrate these qualities through our daily choices and actions.

Ruth 2:2-3: And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.” Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.

Notice that Ruth didn’t just promise to care for Naomi—she immediately began looking for ways to provide for both of them. Gleaning was hard, humble work that involved walking behind the harvesters all day, picking up the grain they had dropped or missed. It was work for the poorest people in society, yet Ruth embraced it willingly because she was determined to turn her love into action.

Ruth 2:17-18: So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.

Ruth worked from early morning until evening, then spent more time threshing the grain she had collected. The amount she gathered—about an ephah—was enough to feed both women for several days. This wasn’t luck or accident; it was the result of Ruth’s diligent, faithful work.

The New Testament emphasizes this same principle. James reminds us that faith without works is dead.

James 2:18: But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

James 2:22: You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

We see this pattern in other biblical characters. Rahab put her faith into action by hiding the Israelite spies, risking her life to protect God’s people. Dorcas demonstrated her love for Christ by making clothing for widows and helping the poor in practical ways.

Ruth’s example challenges us to examine our own lives. Are we content to speak about love and commitment, or are we willing to demonstrate these qualities through sacrificial action? True faith always results in works of love.

John 13:17: Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Trust God Through Uncertainty

One of the most remarkable aspects of Ruth’s story is how she learned to trust God even when she couldn’t see what the future held. When she chose to follow Naomi, Ruth was stepping into complete uncertainty. She was leaving everything familiar and trusting in a God she was only beginning to know.

Ruth 2:11-12: Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

Notice Boaz’s words about Ruth coming to take refuge under the wings of the Lord. This beautiful image shows us that Ruth had learned to find her security not in circumstances, but in God himself. Like a small bird finding protection under the wings of its parent, Ruth had learned to find safety in God’s care and provision.

This trust wasn’t based on having all the answers or knowing how things would work out. Ruth trusted God step by step, day by day, even when the path ahead was unclear.

The Book of Proverbs teaches us this same principle.

Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Psalm 9:10: Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Other biblical characters demonstrate this same pattern of trusting God through uncertainty. Abraham obeyed God’s call to leave his homeland, “even though he did not know where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). Esther risked everything to approach the king without permission, saying, “If I perish, I perish.” Joseph continued to trust God even when he was falsely accused and imprisoned in Egypt.

(Notebook Moment: Think about an uncertain situation you’re facing right now. How might Ruth’s example encourage you to trust God’s provision even when you can’t see the outcome?)

The truth is that faith always involves stepping into the unknown. We don’t need to understand all of God’s plans to trust in his character. Ruth discovered that when we take refuge under God’s wings, he provides exactly what we need, exactly when we need it.

Hebrews 11:8: By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

Love Across Boundaries

One of the most beautiful aspects of Ruth’s story is how it demonstrates God’s heart for people from every nation and background. Ruth was a Moabite—a member of a people group that had a troubled history with Israel. Yet God welcomed her with open arms and made her part of his covenant family.

Ruth 1:22: So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

The fact that Ruth is specifically called “the Moabite” throughout the story reminds us that her inclusion among God’s people was remarkable. Moabites were often viewed with suspicion by the Israelites because of their pagan worship and their history of opposing Israel. Yet God looked beyond Ruth’s ethnic background and saw her heart.

Ruth 2:10-12: At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

Boaz’s response shows us God’s perspective on those who come to him from different backgrounds. He doesn’t focus on where they came from, but on the faithful love they demonstrate. Ruth’s character, not her nationality, was what mattered to God and to the godly people who welcomed her.

This principle appears throughout the New Testament as well. Jesus broke down the barriers that divided people and created one family of faith.

Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

John 13:34-35: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

We see this boundary-crossing love in other biblical examples. The Good Samaritan showed mercy to a Jewish man despite the hostility between their peoples. Peter learned to welcome Cornelius, a Roman centurion, into the family of faith. The early church struggled with but ultimately embraced the truth that God’s love extends to all people.

Romans 15:7: Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Ruth’s story challenges us to examine our own attitudes toward people who are different from us. Do we love only those who share our background, culture, or social status? Or are we willing to follow Ruth’s example and love across the boundaries that often divide people?

Practice God’s Loving-Kindness

The fifth principle we learn from Ruth is perhaps the most profound: we are called to practice hesed—God’s own loving-kindness. This Hebrew word appears throughout the Old Testament to describe God’s loyal, covenant love that never gives up. Ruth became a beautiful example of this divine quality in action.

Ruth 3:5: “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered.

Ruth 3:8-11: In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet! “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family.” “The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character.”

When Naomi instructed Ruth to approach Boaz about their family’s need for a redeemer, Ruth demonstrated hesed once again. She was seeking not just her own security, but Naomi’s future as well. Boaz recognized this as an even greater kindness than Ruth had shown before, because she was thinking of others rather than pursuing her own romantic interests.

Boaz called Ruth “a woman of noble character”—the same phrase used to describe the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. This recognition came not because of Ruth’s beauty or wealth, but because of her demonstration of hesed—loving-kindness that mirrors God’s own character.

The Scriptures frequently speak of God’s hesed—his steadfast love that endures forever.

Psalm 136: The refrain throughout this psalm repeats: “His love endures forever.”

Lamentations 3:22-23: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

1 John 4:19: We love because he first loved us.

We see this same loving-kindness in other biblical characters. Jonathan showed hesed to David through loyal friendship that persisted despite his father’s hatred. Jesus demonstrated the ultimate hesed by showing mercy to the woman at the well, loving her despite her past and offering her living water.

Exodus 34:6: And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”

(Notebook Moment: How can you practice God’s loving-kindness in your relationships this week? Who in your life needs to experience hesed through your words and actions?)

Ruth’s practice of hesed shows us that when we truly understand God’s love for us, we cannot help but extend that same love to others. Her story demonstrates that loving-kindness is not weakness, but the strongest force in the universe—strong enough to change hearts, transform families, and alter the course of history.

Conclusion

The story of Ruth teaches us that faithful love is not just a beautiful ideal—it’s a practical way of life that honors God and blesses everyone around us. When we choose commitment over convenience, put faith into action, trust God through uncertainty, love across boundaries, and practice God’s loving-kindness, we become instruments of his grace in a broken world.

Ruth’s faithful love was rewarded in ways she could never have imagined. Not only did she find security and happiness with Boaz, but she became an ancestor of Jesus Christ himself. When Ruth made her simple choice to remain loyal to Naomi, she had no idea that her faithfulness would place her in the lineage of the Messiah and bless all humanity.

Matthew 1:5: Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse.

This genealogy reveals something remarkable about God’s heart for all people. Both Rahab and Ruth—women from Gentile nations that were considered enemies of Israel—are specifically mentioned in Christ’s family line. Their inclusion shows us that God’s plan of salvation has always extended across racial and ethnic boundaries.

Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Ruth’s story calls us to love as God loves—crossing cultural and ethnic boundaries to share the love of Christ. Like Ruth, we may not know until we are in heaven the full extent of our impact when we are faithful and allow God to work his will in our lives. We are called to practice faithful love in a world that often builds walls instead of bridges. May her example inspire us to love with the same hesed that God has shown to us—loyal, sacrificial, and never-ending love that transforms both giver and receiver and reflects God’s heart for all humanity.

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