“Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” – Ruth 1:16
Perhaps the best example we have in society to adequately explain mutual personal commitment is marriage. Don’t get me wrong; lots of marriages end in divorce, and a further many more remain broken to the grave. Nonetheless, if someone was looking for a solid illustration of what true commitment looked like, this seems like the best place to start.
Offering yourself unconditionally to someone else is no small matter. Most married people meant it when they said, “For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, forsaking all others till death do us part.” Then they started living life together. They found out how enormously difficult it is to keep that vow.
But many couples endure for decades and indeed the totality of their lives committed to one another. It may not all have gone smoothly, there may have been storms along the way, but they stayed together and worked things out. And if we were honest about it, we recognize them as the rare few.
Okay, maybe modern-day marriage isn’t the best example in practice. As I read the verse above, I try to envision what Ruth was truly committing to when she spoke those words to her mother-in-law. What does it mean to tether yourself to someone else that completely? Your God, my God? Really?
And yet, Jesus tells us that “Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). He doesn’t say that to suggest that no such person exists. Rather, He is encouraging His followers to live their lives that way. Complete selflessness and sacrifice for others’ well-being. In fact, He would go on to demonstrate this great love by laying down His life for humanity.
So, should you declare Ruth’s statement of commitment to everyone you know? That is not what I am getting at. The point of this article is to make clear the CALL to unconditionally love others as Jesus said and did. The spirit behind Ruth’s promise to Naomi is one of complete selflessness. She did not make that promise out of self-interest. All that she was inviting into her life by following her mother-in-law into the land of Israel was trouble. She was an outsider, a gentile. She had no rights. She had no friends. She had no hope of thriving as a widow. And yet, she made this outrageous promise because she had great compassion on Naomi, herself a widow heading back to the land of her people to die. The heart of Ruth’s promise is what Jesus means when He talks about greater love. It’s not just a lofty pursuit for the rarest of rare. It’s what He calls us to every day.
Sound impossible? Don’t tell me; tell the One of whom it is said we can do all things through Him who strengthens us.
So, as you strive to love others as Christ did, simply ask one question: what is that person’s well-being? What would serve them well? (Okay, that’s two questions.)
Finally, don’t beat yourself up if you find yourself failing at this high calling. All of us fall short of that glory. It’s not about doing it perfect; it’s about not giving up when we fail. Most people aren’t looking for you to be perfect; they are only looking for you to not give up on them.