True Love—Illustrations in Ruth
Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go return each to her mother’s house. The LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Ruth 1:8-9a
The word love is not used here, but the words and actions of Naomi certainly illustrate a love of understanding and purpose! Naomi was a grieving widow and mother. She had lost both husband and sons. She found herself alone in a foreign land—alone except for the companionship of her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. It would have been easy for this sad woman, perhaps even expected, that she would seek to control these younger women for her own purposes—to keep them close and so to avoid even further isolation. They too, after all, were grieving widows. It would have been natural for them to want to maintain those familiar, familial ties that had become comfortable.
Yet, Naomi understood what that would mean for her daughters-in-law. By marrying her sons, these Moabite women had become outsiders in their own land. Unless they returned to their former families, it was unlikely that any Moabite man would marry them. Were they to accompany Naomi back to Judah, it was unlikely that any Jewish man would marry them either. They might successfully struggle together and maintain their lives, but what of their futures? Would it not be the height of selfishness for Naomi, an older woman, to demand their loyalty—a loyalty that would be their undoing after she died?
True love meant,indeed demanded, that Naomi seek both their freedom and their blessing! And so, the decision was made in her mind. She must let them go. They must return to their Moabite homes. She would entrust them to the LORD’s kindness and care. Surely the LORD would watch over them and grant them His blessings within the gentle embraces of other loving husbands.
True love does not seek control over but rather freedom and blessings for others!
O LORD God, fill our hearts with an understanding of the needs for others. Help us to look beyond ourselves and in love to seek blessings for others! Amen.