Families are designed to be excellent support systems. They can act as cheerleaders when you face a challenge, counselors when you need advice, and a shoulder to cry on when you need to, you know, cry. One of the incredible blessings of family is that they can stand with you through all of life’s ups and downs.
Ruth and Naomi stand out as a great example of family support in the Bible. Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi, married to her son, Kilion. Over the course of 10 years, all the men in Naomi (and Ruth’s) life die: first Naomi’s husband, and then her two sons, leaving Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah (the other daughter-in-law) alone. Now, in these days, women couldn’t get very far on their own, so Naomi decided to head back to her home country and told her daughters-in-law to go back to their parents’ home so that they might have a chance to get remarried.
Orpah, the first daughter-in-law, agreed with Naomi, and decided to go back to her parents with the hope of starting over. Ruth, on the other hand, refused to leave. In Ruth 1:16 she says, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”
Instead of going back to her parents in a time of loss, instead of seeking comfort in the land she was familiar with, Ruth decides to make her home with Naomi. Instead of closing herself off in her grief Ruth stays with Naomi so that they can support each other through this hard time. God empowers her not to take the simple or easy path. She wasn’t going to abandon her elderly mother-in-law to fend for herself. In Ruth, we not only see a prime example of the love and dedication of family, we see her actions reflection the way God love and choose us!
In this story we witness how God uses families to bring healing, love, and support to each other in faith.
We are reminded of the way God chose us to be a part of his family! Even while we were still sinners, God chose us as His children and sent Jesus to die on our behalf in order to bring us back to Him.
Discuss
- What are ways you, as a family, have supported each other in the past? (Take time to let each family member describe the ways they’ve been supported by the rest of the family.)
- What are ways you, as a family, can continue to support one another? (Try to come up with at least one way that the family can support each of its members.)
Pray
Lord God, We thank You for blessing us with our family. Thank you for providing a support system within each other. Most of all, thank You for saving us a making us part of your family. Thank You for sacrificing Jesus for our sins in order to bring us back to You. We pray that You would continue to help us support one another and love each other as You have loved us. Thank You, Lord. We love You, Lord. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
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