
Welcome to the first post in our five-day series on Ruth! This week, we’ll walk through her story and uncover lessons about faithfulness, loyalty, trust, and God’s providence. These are lessons that apply to our lives today, in ordinary moments and big decisions alike.
Ruth’s story begins not with grandeur or drama, but with a choice. It’s a story that reminds us that faithfulness often begins quietly, in ordinary moments, and that the greatest demonstration of faith is sometimes shown in the simple decision to stay when leaving seems easier.
Ruth was a Moabite woman, a foreigner, married into Naomi’s family. When tragedy struck, (Naomi’s husband and sons died) Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem. Ruth faced a choice: go back to her own people and her own comfort, or stay with Naomi, who had lost everything.
Ruth’s answer is one of the most inspiring declarations of loyalty in Scripture. She said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for wherever you go, I will go; your people shall be my people, and your God my God” Ruth 1:16 (KJV).
This is more than devotion to a person. It is devotion to God’s plan, to faithfulness, and to walking in covenant obedience, even when it costs.
Think about it: Ruth left behind her homeland, her culture, and the life she knew. She walked into uncertainty, poverty, and potential rejection. Yet she chose loyalty over convenience, love over comfort, and obedience over fear.
Here’s the lesson for us: faithfulness often requires sacrifice. Staying loyal in relationships, in work, or in service to God may not be easy. There will be times when walking in faith seems costly. Ruth models courage and commitment in these moments.
Her loyalty was rooted in trust. Ruth trusted Naomi, yes, but ultimately she trusted God’s providence. She understood that obedience sometimes requires stepping into the unknown, believing that God’s hand guides even when the path is unclear.
Psalm 37:3–5 encourages this posture: “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”
Ruth’s commitment is a living example of this trust. She committed her future, her actions, and her loyalty to God’s plan.
Faithfulness often starts in small, ordinary choices. Ruth didn’t perform miracles that day; she simply chose to stay. But small acts of obedience, when aligned with God’s will, ripple into life-changing outcomes. Later, God blesses her faithfulness with provision, love, and purpose. She marries Boaz, secures her family’s legacy, and becomes part of the lineage of Jesus Christ (Ruth 4:13–17).
If you are standing at a crossroads today like a choice between comfort and obedience, convenience and faithfulness, fear and trust, take a lesson from Ruth. Choose loyalty. Choose faith. Choose to walk with God, even when the cost is unknown.
Your faithfulness, no matter how quiet or ordinary it seems, may be setting the stage for extraordinary blessings. Like Ruth, let your loyalty reflect God’s faithfulness, and watch how He turns your obedience into purpose.
Mervin Fitzgerald Matthew | Steps of Purpose










