https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/A-Life-Defined-by-Love.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: I Corinthians 16:13-14<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. The story of Ruth is a popular love story from the Bible<\/p>\n
A. It isn’t how most people see as a typical love story.<\/p>\n
1. She doesn’t go out searching for love but she eventually finds it anyway<\/p>\n
B. Rather, we see the story of a woman whose life is defined by love<\/p>\n
1. Everything she does is a result of her love for others<\/p>\n
C. Love is an important concept for us to understand – I Corinthians 13:1-3<\/p>\n
1. It is what defines Christianity – John 13:34-35<\/p>\n
2. It is required by our religion – I John 4:21<\/p>\n
II. Ruth’s example<\/p>\n
A. Devotion <\/p>\n 1. When we are introduced to Ruth, we are told simply that she is the wife of\none of Naomi’s sons – Ruth 1:4\n a. It is not until the end of the story that we learn which one – Ruth\n4:10\n
2. Misfortune strikes the family<\/p>\n
a. Naomi loses her husband – Ruth 1:3<\/p>\n
b. And then her two sons – Ruth 1:5<\/p>\n
3. Naomi decides to return to her homeland – Ruth 1:6<\/p>\n
4. She expected to leave her daughter-in-laws, but Ruth refused – Ruth 1:15-17<\/p>\n 5. The Greek word for love is agape<\/i> and it refers to a devoted love that is\ngiven even if it is not returned\n
6. Ruth is an example of a love that <\/p>\n
a. Does not seek its own way – I Corinthians 13:5<\/p>\n
b. Does not fail – I Corinthians 13:8<\/p>\n
c. She does not leave Naomi because her husband died.<\/p>\n
d. She doesn’t abandon her because she moves to another country<\/p>\n
e. Naomi seeks to dissuade her, but Ruth persists<\/p>\n
B. Diligence<\/p>\n 1. Because of Ruth’s love for Naomi, she goes to work to provide for herself\nand Naomi – Ruth 2:2\n
2. She wasn’t slack about it – Ruth 2:5-7 <\/p>\n
3. We also are to show this type of love – Galatians 6:9-10<\/p>\n
C. Sacrifice<\/p>\n
1. Ruth gave up her family and country to move to a foreign land – Ruth 2:11<\/p>\n 2. When she was offered food, she only ate until she was satisfied and then\nbrought the rest to her mother-in-law – Ruth 2:14,18\n
3. This is what is demanded of us as well – Philippians 2:3-4<\/p>\n
4. We help our brethren – I John 3:17-18<\/p>\n
D. Humility<\/p>\n
1. She asked permission to glean – Ruth 2:2,7<\/p>\n
2. The request was an admission of being poor – Leviticus 19:9-10<\/p>\n 3. Normally it is the man who proposes to the woman, but Ruth requested\nthat Boaz take her in as a concubine – Ruth 3:7-9\n
4. Humility is what God wants of His people – Colossians 3:12<\/p>\n
5. Humility and fearing God are rewarded – Proverbs 22:4<\/p>\n
E. Rewarded<\/p>\n 1. Ruth wasn’t doing these things to be honored. She genuinely loved Naomi\nand sought to care for her\n
2. It was her love that Boaz noticed – Ruth 2:11; 3:10<\/p>\n
3. And eventually she became his wife (not concubine) – Ruth 4:13<\/p>\n
4. We too should work to glorify God and not ourselves – Matthew 5:16<\/p>\n
III. Jacob illustrates a similar love<\/p>\n A. He showed devotion and diligence by working seven years to marry Rachel –\nGenesis 29:20\n B. When Laban tricks him into marrying her sister, he agrees to work another seven\nyears to marry the woman he loved – Genesis 29:27-29\n C. Jacob was basically a servant in Laban’s household, but he was willing to do so\nfor Rachel – Genesis 30:25-26\n
D. He was ill-treated – Genesis 31:2, 5-7<\/p>\n
E. But in the end he was rewarded – Genesis 31:9, 14-16<\/p>\n
IV. All that we do should be from love – I Corinthians 16:14<\/p>\n
A. God loved us – I John 4:19<\/p>\n
B. So we ought to love each other – I John 4:11<\/p>\n
C. Love ought to define the type of life we live<\/p>\n
\n
Based on an article by Stephen Harper<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Corinthians 16:13-14 I. The story of Ruth is a popular love story from the Bible A. It isn’t how most people see as a typical love story. 1. She doesn’t go out searching for love but she eventually finds it anyway B. Rather, we see the story of a woman whose life…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[1322,384,463,65,245],"class_list":["post-58880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-devotion","tag-diligence","tag-humility","tag-love","tag-ruth"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92801,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/but-i-love-him-how-can-i-remarry\/","url_meta":{"origin":58880,"position":0},"title":"But I Love Him — How Can I Remarry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Author Unknown via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 1, March 1993 Perhaps because of our youthful foolishness, compounded by a fresh love and a new marriage, my wife and I discussed the possibility of remarrying if one of us passed away, even in the first week of our new life together.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9343,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-ruth-uncover-boazs-feet\/","url_meta":{"origin":58880,"position":1},"title":"Why did Ruth uncover Boaz’s feet?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Ruth uncover Boaz's feet? Answer: In the story of Ruth, Ruth worked in the fields as a charity case to supply food for her mother-in-law and herself. Ruth didn't realize it, but the field she selected was owned by a relative of her deceased father-in-law. Boaz spoke\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13435,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-wasnt-naomi-concerned-that-her-daughters-in-law-might-marry-ungodly-men\/","url_meta":{"origin":58880,"position":2},"title":"Why wasn’t Naomi concerned that her daughters-in-law might marry ungodly men?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm preparing to teach the book of Ruth for the first time.\u00a0 In fact, to even study it!\u00a0 I'm a bit confused as to why Naomi insisted that her daughters-in-law not go with her to her homeland in Judah when Moab was a land full of idolatry.\u00a0 If her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94391,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-story-of-redemption\/","url_meta":{"origin":58880,"position":3},"title":"The Story of Redemption","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeff Grisham There are some narratives in Scripture that are not exactly what we would call \"family-friendly.\" In other words, if some of the biblical narratives were televised, we would probably not let our children watch them. Let's look at a couple of examples. The first is found in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1034,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-lessons-can-we-learn-from-boaz\/","url_meta":{"origin":58880,"position":4},"title":"What lessons can we learn from Boaz?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The relationship between Boaz and his workers was enviable. Is it possible today? Why or why not? Answer: The story of Boaz is found in the book of Ruth. While you appear to think highly of Boaz's relationship with his servants, there is actually little material to draw upon.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5055,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-the-man-always-make-the-first-move-in-a-relationship\/","url_meta":{"origin":58880,"position":5},"title":"Should the man always make the first move in a relationship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am now in a community where most men at my age are married; only one is single. I think he is a very good person, I don\u2019t dress immodestly like I used to. I think physical attraction would not be important for a man seeing a good woman,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58880\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}