Gleaning Grace: 5 Characteristics of Ruth That Can Change Your Life

It really is the stuff of romance novels. A widow from a pagan land. A nighttime rendezvous. A lovely proposal. And a shoe. Okay, maybe the shoe part isn’t romantic, but the story of Ruth in the Old Testament is a beautiful and inspiring tale. All throughout her story, Ruth displayed the character traits of faith, kindness, perseverance, courage and hard work. But how can modern Christian women relate to Ruth’s situation? What can we learn from the characteristics of Ruth that will inspire our lives today?

You and I don’t live in ancient Israel, so we can’t relate to parts of Ruth’s life. But every one of us can relate to facing difficult circumstances in life. Reading the story of Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi can encourage us to trust God with every part of our lives.

The Story of Ruth

The book of Ruth is a little book in God’s Word–only four chapters long. It happened during the time of the judges in the Old Testament. But this powerful story is an amazing example of faithfulness, love, and grace. 

Ruth’s story begins in the town of Bethlehem, far from her homeland of Moab. A man named Elimelech took his wife, Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, and traveled to Moab., because there was a famine in the land of Israel. 

The Bible says they went there to “sojourn” which means their stay was supposed to be temporary. However, Elimelech never returned to the land of Israel again. He died in Moab. Naomi found wives for her sons in that foreign land, and they lived there together for ten years. 

But her heartache wasn’t finished. Naomi’s sons both died, leaving her a childless widow far from Bethlehem. She was determined to return to her homeland, along with her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah. 

Return to Bethlehem

As they traveled, Naomi realized she was being selfish to take the two young women from their families. She told them to return to the land of Moab, and she would go on alone. They wept and grieved, but Orpah eventually agreed to return to her own family and her false gods. 

Ruth refused to return. Instead, she told Naomi she would never leave her. 

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. Ruth 1:16-17

Upon their arrival in Bethlehem, it was harvest time and Ruth went to work gleaning barley and corn. She soon arrived at the fields of Boaz. Boaz was a rich man, and a close relative of Elimelech, He noticed Ruth, and showed grace to the young widow. He told his workers to drop handfuls on purpose for her to pick up.

The Threshing Floor

Ruth gleaned in Boaz’s field until the end of the wheat harvest. When it came time for the threshing of the harvest, Naomi came up with a plan. She could see that Boaz loved Ruth, but he would assume Ruth would choose a younger man to be her husband. 

Naomi instructed Ruth to go to the threshing floor and to notice where Boaz lay down to sleep. Then, she was to go and lay down at his feet. When he awoke and saw her there, he was startled. When he learned it was Ruth, and that she had come to ask him to be her kinsman redeemer (she basically proposed to him right there–you go, girl!), Boaz was delighted!

He told Ruth he would gladly redeem her and marry her, but there was one man who stood in the way. While he was a close relative, there was a man who was closer. He would have the first opportunity to marry Ruth and take possession of her husband’s property.

A Shoe and a Son

At dawn, Boaz filled Ruth’s shawl with barley and sent her back to her home. As soon as the day began, he went to the city gate and waited, searching the crowds for the man who would have the first option to marry Ruth. The Bible doesn’t tell us the other man’s name, just that he was a male relative of Naomi’s husband. 

Boaz offered him the opportunity to redeem Elimelech’s property. According to Old Testament law, a close family member could marry a young widow to continue the family line. He would also receive her husband’s property as his own. 

Since Ruth was a Moabite woman, the man did not want to “mar his own inheritance” by marrying her. As a sign that he was choosing not to redeem the property and marry Ruth, the kinsman took off his shoe and gave it to Boaz. Now, Boaz was free to marry the woman he loved. 

Ruth’s story ends with a wedding and the birth of a son–Obed. Of course, Obed grew up to become the grandfather of King David. God’s Word tells us that this Moabite woman received a place in the lineage of Jesus Christ. 

5 Characteristics of Ruth We Can Live Out Today 

What an amazing and beautiful love story! It’s enough to make even modern day women swoon a little. But Ruth’s story is more than just a love story. It is an excellent example of God’s grace, love, and faithfulness, even when we fail Him. 

We can learn from Ruth’s example as a woman of great character and follow God’s plan for our lives–even if it seems like things will never turn out right. 

Faithfulness 

The first thing we see in the story is Ruth’s faithfulness and devotion. In fact, it’s so legendary, her words in Ruth 1:16-17 are often used in wedding ceremonies even today. 

Ruth was not a part of the nation of Israel, except through marriage. After the loss of her husband, she could have chosen to remain in her own land along with her sister-in-law Orpah. No one would’ve blamed her. 

But somehow in the ten years that passed from the time that Naomi arrived in Moab until she returned to Bethlehem, Ruth had dedicated herself to serving her new family and the God of Israel. Even after the death of her husband, she chose to remain faithful. 

It was not common for a Moabite woman to convert to the Jewish faith. But Ruth was committed to serving the true God in this new land.

God is still looking today for strong women who will follow Ruth’s example and serve Him faithfully.

Kindness

Ruth’s kindness to her mother-in-law is legendary. In the eyes of Boaz, she was even more beautiful because of the great respect she showed Naomi. Ruth’s character is shown through her numerous strengths, but mostly through her kindness and loyal love.

In our current cancel culture, a woman who is kind and loyal is hard to come by! Women who are fake and inst-famous are a dime a dozen anymore. But a kind-hearted woman is a treasure to her husband and family. 

We live so much of our lives online, we tend to forget that words and actions still matter. Words that are typed on a screen don’t seem the same as spoken words. So many people “speak” with a keyboard ugly words they would never say out loud. 

Kindness still counts, and just a little bit can go a long way in a world that’s often full of cruelty.

Perseverance

Ruth faced so much adversity in her life, but she remained strong and kept going. We know that Naomi lived in Moab for 10 years, but we don’t know how long Ruth was married. She was obviously still a young woman, and now a widow. 

Ruth left behind the land of Moab, including her false gods. She traveled to a foreign land where her people were hated. Ruth and her mother-in-law were so poor, she had to glean what others dropped just so they could eat. 

But Ruth never gave up. You and I shouldn’t either. We may face things that are far more difficult than Ruth faced. Or we may never face the harsh things she dealt with. 

No matter what difficult times we go through in life, God’s grace is always sufficient for us. We can cling to God’s Word and His promise that He is working things out for our good.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

We don’t need to see the ending to know that God is working for us. We just need to keep going and trusting God’s grace and goodness. 

Courage

Imagine how difficult it would be to pack up everything you own, leave your comfort zone and start a whole new life in a strange country. Ruth didn’t have Facebook, a smartphone, or email to keep her connected to her family members in Moab. 

Ruth’s choice to follow God in the face of adversity cost her every part of her old life. She had great courage to make those difficult decisions and trust God’s plan. 

Standing up for what’s right and following God is never easy, and it takes true courage. Sometimes people will think we’re crazy for the decisions we make. 

We may be required to walk away from family, friends, and situations that aren’t part of God’s plan for us. That takes courage and strength. It also requires us to have faith and trust God in difficult situations. 

Hard Working

After losing her husband, leaving her homeland, and traveling to the little town so far from her home, I bet Ruth wanted to just lay down and chill for a few weeks. But instead of wallowing in self-pity (like I probably would) she headed out to Boaz’s field and got right to work. 

And she did hard work. Gleaning involved picking up the barley, corn, or wheat that the harvesters had missed. She probably wasn’t picking up a lot of grain (until Boaz made sure his workers dropped extra for her–what a gentleman!). But she kept going. 

Being a modern woman of God involves working hard. We see in Proverbs 31 that a virtuous woman isn’t lazy, but she works hard to serve her husband and family. Just like Ruth, you and I can serve God by serving those around us. While serving at home is exhausting, and sometimes feels like invisible work, it is important. Ruth’s story is proof that God values a strong work ethic. 

And think of this: if Ruth had not gone out to work in the field of Boaz, we would not even have this little story stuck right there in the Old Testament to encourage and inspire our faith today!

Learning from the Biblical Story of Ruth

From the first chapter all the way to the end, we see that God’s grace is the major theme of Ruth’s story. The moral of the story of Ruth is that God’s plan for your life is far above anything you could imagine for yourself.  You only need to trust His plan.

We can see God’s grace shining through Ruth’s story. It was His grace that brought her out of her own land, away from her own people, placed her in Bethlehem, and made her the many-times-great-grandmother of Jesus. 

It is God’s grace that saved us from our sins and put us into His family forever. Sometimes we get so caught up in the mundane parts of life, we forget the beauty of God’s grace playing out in our stories.

When Ruth’s husband died, and she left all that she knew to follow her mother-in-law to Bethlehem, she could not have guessed how her life would play out. But her strong faith, perseverance and courage wouldn’t let her give up.

It was her character that led her to remain faithful and work hard. And it was her character that led her into a brand new life. Ruth thought she was going out to gather some grain, and ended up marrying a great and powerful man in the nation of Israel. 

You can follow her example and be committed to faith in God. Even in the modern world you can have courage and perseverance. You never know when God will use the seemingly mundane things in your life to lead you to something greater than you ever expected.

Be like Ruth. Don’t ever give up, even when it seems like good things aren’t happening. You never know what God has waiting for you when you live daily in God’s grace and goodness. 

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