“I will do everything you say.” (Ruth 3:5)

Ruth shows exemplary faith and trust in her mother-in-law, which is an example we can all learn from. Naomi provides a plan to appeal to Boaz to be a family redeemer, a crazy plan that, even by today’s standards, would be radical.

So remember exactly what this is: a marriage proposal. Ruth is fully on board with marrying a man, not her herself, but for her mother-in-law. This is, at its core, an example of a person fully submitting themselves to another.

This reminds me of John 15:13

No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.

In the context of the gospels and this sentence in general, it is about sacrificing your full life for your friends, that is, dying for them. But Ruth shows another way we can lay down our lives for our friends, by giving up our life so that our friends, family, or whoever, might have a better life because of our actions. Ruth could have stayed in Moab (Ruth 1:15) but instead she left security to support her widowed mother-in-law.

Using this context on sacrificial love, take a look at Mark 12:29-31, where Jesus answered the question of the greatest commandment.

29 Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul [life], with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31 The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”

When we’re told to love Yahweh our God with all of our heart, life, mind, and strength, do you understand what all means there? Ruth is an example of living a life for someone else. She gave up her own wishes and fully submitted to the will of her mother-in-law. And, while Boaz is certainly a perfect example of loving your neighbor as yourself, Ruth is certainly a good example, too. Remember: Ruth is a Moabitess. So any care and love she shows for an Israelite is showing love for her neighbor.