Loyalty To Others

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. (Ruth 1:16)

There is a book in the Bible that has as its main character, a woman named Ruth, neither of which we would have heard of had it not been for her incredible loyalty. Ruth is one of the greatest love stories not just in the Bible, but in history. Movies, novels, and books have been written about this beautiful story, but there would have been no love story had it not been for Ruth’s loyalty. It is a story that will take you from the agony of defeat to the thrill of victory. It’s a story that will make you appreciate your family, your friends, your future, and your faith more than ever.

Ruth’s loyalty began where loyalty is planted, fertilized, and grown and that is in your family. By choosing not to abandon her mother-in-law, she is really truly giving up everything. She is giving up her country, her social standing, her friends, her relationships, her chances of remarrying and ever having children all to spend it with a woman she is not physically related to and whom must probably will struggle to make ends meet. We should all strive to be loyal to our family the way Ruth was.

And not only should we strive to show that kind of loyalty to our family, but also to our friends. I am absolutely convinced that the one thing that separates your true friends from your pseudo friends, from your fair-weather friends, from your I’ll be your friend as long as things are cool friends is loyalty. When Ruth said these words to Naomi, Naomi knew that Ruth was more than just a daughter-in-law to her. She was a friend that would stick closer than a sister. You will never learn who your real friends are in prosperity. You will only learn who your real friends are in adversity.

My prayer is that we all strive to have the kind of loyalty Ruth did, and that in doing so, we will emulate our Savior, Jesus Christ, the ultimate example of loyalty.

Dear Lord, thank you for the example of loyalty set by Ruth. Help me to be loyal to my family and friends so that they know they can count on me to be there for them. And thank you that we can always count on you, even when we fall short. In Jesus’ name, amen.