Sacrificial Work
Ruth 2:11-12
But Boaz answered her, “All that you have
done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told
to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to
a people that you did not know before. The Lord repay you for what you
have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take
refuge!”
Sacrificial work.
Sacrifice. Have you heard people say something to this effect:
A man needs respect from his wife; the wife needs the man’s love. It is
a common interpretation of Ephesians 5:22-25 when Paul charges the church with
the different roles and responsibilities within the family. Some use it to
justify a wife’s total and unconditional submission to her husband, regardless.
And yet, “love” can be defined in so many ways.
I must confess that the submission part is sometimes hard for me. But what is even more troubling is that we humans can stretch and
manipulate the Scriptures to make them say what we want them to say. You may or
may not believe that a woman needs to respect the man, while the man needs to
love the woman as such. You may be more or less literal in its interpretation.
It is irrelevant because the important thing is that there is mutual respect
and love within a marriage, right?
But what if it were so cut and dry? What if we took it that
literally? Well, there is good news. It is easier to respect than it is to
love. You can respect a bad boss because of his position over you at work, but
you don’t necessarily love him, right? For centuries, women were forced to
respect their husbands, even when their love for them was absent.
People define love differently, depending on their own needs.
Real love, on the other hand, requires sacrifice. A sacrifice that leaves all
behind for the joy before us, whatever that may be. It was for love that Jesus
did not take into consideration the fact that He was the King of the universe,
for the joy that was placed before Him. Ruth loved her mother-in-law, so much so, that she left everything to follow her, her people, her God. And that was
the joy before her: her God, and the promise of a redeemer.
What is the joy before you today? What is the hope that
drives you? What will you sacrifice for love? #getittogethergirl, lay it
all down at the foot of the cross. Leave all behind for the love that has no
limits. Let God take you and put oil on your wounds and carry you to safety. He
loves you like no one else can.
Father, I give you everything. I leave behind all of what I
thought love was up to now and commit it to your eternal, unconditional love.
Thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Thank you for carrying me in
your arms in my darkest hours. Teach me to love you like you loved me, and to
love others the same way. Show me that whatever I need to sacrifice, it will
never be anything close to the joy that is before me. Help me to live in the
hope of a new life, redeemed by your grace. In Jesus’ name, amen.
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down
his life for his friends”
John 15:13
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