RUTH 1
The Conviction of Love
Love is a choice. God loved us when we behaved in unlovable ways. Romans 5:8 “
CHAPTER 1:3-10; 14-19
3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons.
4 They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.
5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband.
6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the LORD had visited His people in giving them food.
7 So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
8 And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
9 “May the LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
10 And they said to her, “No, but we will surely return with you to your people.”
14 And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
15 Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”
16 But Ruth said, “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.
17 “Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”
18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
19 So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. . . .
TO HAVE STRONG RELATIONSHIPS:
VOCALIZE YOUR COMMITMENT
You need to be accountable to your word. Leave and cleave, you cannot serve two agendas. Self-actualizations. Every relationship has the positive. I am yours and you are mine. Positives. But there is also the negative. I am no others. Doors are now closed. By default, you are no others. You are to keep your focus on the one you are committed to. Orpah was not committed. See there are people who think church membership, marriage makes
YOU BECOME WHAT YOU COMMIT TO. (V. 16; (Song of Solomon 2:7; 3:5; 8:4).
Thick and thin. Good and bad.
GODLY AFFECTION LEADS TO GODLY BEHAVIOR. (V. 17)
If I were to ask anyone that has been through any bit of life and even if that person said, I do not believe in God or His commands, if I were to ask them, have you ever, ever done something that you said, “I’ll never never do that… And then you did it.” If that
VALUE YOUR COMMITMENT
EMOTION ALONE WILL LEAD YOU ASTRAY. (V. 15)
Immature love says: "I love you because I need you." Mature love says: "I need you because I love you." Erich Fromm
Eros, Phileo, Storge (family, mentor love. Desires to care for and stand by. Doesn’t see faults but potential) Agape
"I think there are a combination of things that created" the rise in divorce among older Americans, Regnerus said in an email. There is "more wealth among this era of senior citizens (or at least people over 50) than in earlier generations, yet with social scripts that: (1) raise expectations for long-term marital satisfaction (2) and have made divorce more accepted socially (and religiously).
"Also," he added, "corrosive effects of social media [aid] in fostering discontent as well as building social support for decisions people have made to leave."
First, don’t get lazy in your relationship.
Little foxes. Age is natural but letting one self go physically, health wise, emotionally and time wise is a choice. You have to put as much energy into your relationship as you did at first. Look the best you can for your spouse, be as active as you can with your spouse and family. Don’t let the relationship fade. Song, the slow fade. We are to love God with our body soul and mind. We must love our spouses and family the same way.
Are there bad habits you need to stop? Good habits you need to start. Christians are some of the most unhealthy people in the nation.
A 2013 research paper by Bowling Green State professors Susan Brown and I-Fen Lin noted a "gray divorce revolution" in America. Brown is co-director of the university's National Center for Family & Marriage Research.
YOUR REAL LIFE CHOICES REFLECT YOUR CHARACTER. (V. 18)
If you've loved one woman, you've loved them all…if you've loved many women, you've loved none. "I saw the truth as it is set into ... The truth — that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which mancan aspire.” Viktor Frankl, Man's ... There is only one kind of love, but there are a thousand imitations. François de La ...
When you don’t value the commitment, you do not value other people, kids or even yourself.
This week another girl committed suicide on Facebook after streaming live for 2 hours. She was in the foster care. It was in the middle of the night so her foster parents slept through it.
