Goodness, Kindness, and Faithfulness

Naomi decided to move back to Bethlehem. Her heart was filled with grief. Her husband and two sons had died while the family was living in Moab. Now she wanted to return to her homeland. When she told this news to her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, she said, “The LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.”

The Hebrew word translated “kindly” means “goodness, kindness, faithfulness.” Naomi was saying that Ruth and Orpah had been good, kind, and faithful to their husbands and to her. She prayed that God would treat them in the same way.

Ruth determined to go with Naomi, continuing to demonstrate these same characteristics after they arrived in Bethlehem. When Ruth began gleaning in a field owned by their relative, Boaz, Naomi realized that God truly had been kind to them: “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” (Ruth 2:20) Naomi used the same word she had used when leaving Moab.

Later, when Ruth lay at the feet of Boaz, she revealed that she and Naomi were his close relatives. Boaz, too, reacted by blessing God. He told Ruth, “You have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich” (Ruth 3:10). He used the same Hebrew word Naomi had used earlier.

The story of Ruth and Naomi reminds us what happens when we are kind toward others. How many problems would be avoided if all of us practiced the qualities of goodness, kindness, and faithfulness!

Today, thank God for His kindness. Ask Him to help you live a life of goodness, kindness, and faithfulness.