Never Give Up 2

RUTH

Never give up on Others

Ruth 1:15-18 CSB

15 Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Follow your sister-in-law.”

16 But Ruth replied:

Don’t plead with me to abandon you

or to return and not follow you.

For wherever you go, I will go,

and wherever you live, I will live;

your people will be my people,

and your God will be my God.

17 Where you die, I will die,

and there I will be buried.

May the Lord punish me,

and do so severely,

if anything but death separates you and me.

18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped talking to her.

How many of you would say that you have friends that you trust very much?

Some of you didn’t raise your hand, and for good reason because I think trusting someone can be difficult especially if you’ve been hurt by someone you have trusted in the past.

Today, our bottom line is to never give up on others

Before we get into the meat of the conversation, just like last week, I’m going to put some prompts up on the screen and I want you to really quickly talk about them and later on, you will be able to talk about them when you go into your small groups.

When things become difficult, I tend to pull away from people rather than ask for help.

I don’t feel like I have people around me to trust with personal information

I believe that I can rely on myself when it comes to dealing with my personal struggles.

I’ll give you guys the opportunity to talk about these statements when we get into small groups again.

What we are going to do is look at the story of a woman named Ruth. her story is in the Bible and you can read about her in the book of Ruth.

Here are some things to note about her (Show slide of Ruth)

So when Ruth’s husband died, Naomi, her mother-in-law told Ruth and Orpah, Naomi’s other daughter-in-law who also lost her husband, to go back to their hometown because Naomi believed her life was too bitter to share. Think about Naomi’s struggles, Her husband and both of her children just died. She lost everything and was willing just to go be by herself.

Naomi was pushing her two daughters-in-law away, and Orpah of them actually goes back to Moab, but Ruth did not.

Ruth could have left Naomi to deal with her pain alone and gone back to Moab like Orpah.

But, instead of leaving, she actually clings to Naomi and she says these words stating her level of commitment to her.

Ruth 1:15-18 CSB

15 Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Follow your sister-in-law.”

16 But Ruth replied:

Don’t plead with me to abandon you

or to return and not follow you.

For wherever you go, I will go,

and wherever you live, I will live;

your people will be my people,

and your God will be my God.

17 Where you die, I will die,

and there I will be buried.

May the Lord punish me,

and do so severely,

if anything but death separates you and me.

18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped talking to her.

I don’t know about you, but I could use a friend like Ruth when I’m feeling like Naomi.

And the other thing is, I could do better to be more like Ruth when I see my friend struggling.

So let’s ask three questions again to assess the situation here.

What happened?

Ruth and Naomi are dealing with great loss. Ruth lost her husband, but Naomi lost her husband and her two children. (vs. 1:1-5)

What’s true no matter what?

A good friend stays committed to the relationship

How did Ruth Respond?

She stuck with Naomi to be with her and also to be a part of God’s people. (1:16-17)

WE

Sometimes when we go through something harsh, our natural tendency is to isolate ourselves. We put on masks of happiness and contentment to hide our pain. Or we soak ourselves in bitterness. However, Ruth’s example is one that expresses resilience and commitment. She doesn’t give up on her mother-in-law, Naomi, even when she experienced a lot of grief with her.

When it comes to our relationships with others, we need to make sure we are intentional about surrounding ourselves with people who we trust with things we are struggling with. It could’ve been easy for Ruth to go back to her hometown and live in her past lifestyle, but she chooses a lifestyle that is self-sacrificing.

How can we look at this example and understand what it means not to give up on someone, but figure out what it means to trust someone and to commit to someone?