Love Like Ruth Did

Colleen Mallette considers how Ruth’s story in the Old Testament serves as an example of how to love, even for us today.

If you aren’t familiar with the story of Ruth in the Old Testament, let me refresh your memory.

Jesus’ ancestor was David, the great warrior and king. And David’s great-grandmother was Ruth, as mentioned in Matthew’s detailed list of Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1:5.

Ruth was not a Jew; she didn’t even know about their God, Yahweh, when she enters the story. But by the end she is a faith-filled member of the family that will produce many righteous descendants including Joseph, Jesus’ father.

While living in her hometown of Moab, Ruth meets a Jewish widow, Naomi, and ends up marrying one of her sons. After ten years Ruth's husband and brother-in-law both die, leaving the three women alone and widowed. At this point Naomi decides to leave the pagan town of Moab and return to her hometown of Bethlehem in Judah, presumably because she still had Jewish family and friends there who could watch over her now that the famine had ended.

At first her daughters-in-law agreed to go with her, despite leaving their extended families and the town they felt comfortable living in. Somewhere along the trip, however, Naomi insisted the young girls return to Moab and their families. Out of love and selflessness, she relieved them of any sense of obligation to continue the trip with her and uproot their lives from what was familiar to them and the possibility of getting remarried to a local.

The young women disagreed at first, then the other daughter-in-law kissed Naomi good-bye and turned around for home. However,

Ruth clung to her and said:
"Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” (Ruth 1:14,16)

What an amazing expression of love. What caused Ruth to be so firm in her resolve to stay with her mother-in-law despite her husband’s death and having to leave her home? Was Ruth that worried about leaving the elderly woman on this long journey and how she would survive without a husband? Was she so attached to her after ten years together that she couldn’t imagine living without her? Was she so unhappy with her life in Moab that she didn’t mind leaving?

Possibly all of those reasons. But probably the most compelling reason was Naomi’s faith. Throughout the short book in Scriptures, she demonstrates her belief in the Almighty God of their heritage. She was a caring, considerate woman who lived her faith and was well-liked: when they returned to Bethlehem, “all the city was excited because of them” (Ruth 1:19).

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What caused Ruth to be so firm in her resolve to stay with her mother-in-law despite her husband’s death and having to leave her home? #catholicmom

In the historical novel The Book of Ruth, author Sr. Kathleen Glavich depicts Naomi telling stories about their faith history and traditions to Ruth throughout their time together. Ruth lived by their Jewish rules during those ten years of marriage to Naomi’s son. She probably grew to love their faith and their God because of Naomi. Ruth knew that if she wanted to continue living by their ways and with this wonderful woman, she had to agree to leave Moab and follow her back to Judah.

This meant being a foreigner in Bethlehem where people didn’t know she had grown to appreciate the Jewish faith. It meant risking not being accepted or ever remarrying. But Ruth’s apparent kindness and modesty eventually gave her favor in her new town, and when word got around about her story of loyalty and commitment to staying with Naomi, she was rewarded with friendships and eventually a new husband.

mother and daughter walking

We are to be like Naomi and boldly share our faith, especially with the younger generations. We do that as she did by living our faith daily, talking about it, and telling our stories of how God has worked in our lives.

We are also to be like Ruth and be open to learning about God and how to grow in our faith. We need to take care of our elders and show love to others with kindness like her. Like Ruth, we should honor and care for our in-laws out of love and respect for our spouses. We should be willing to go out of our comfort zones to pray with others and serve others less fortunate. Like Ruth, we have to accept that life won’t always be easy, but by loving God and others it will be joyful and rewarding.