This is another book review of a book that I read twice.  I enjoyed it both times and continue to be challenged by the contents.  The complete title is A Loving Life, In a World of Broken Relationships.  You can see where the challenge has come from in that our world is full of broken relationships. What part of that brokenness is our part?  The author, Paul Miller, takes time to explore love in the book of Ruth.  The truth he reveals about love is challenging.  It has caused me to ask myself, “Am I really loving well?”

The first chapter begins the same way the book of Ruth does by introducing the subject of suffering.  On page 19 Paul Miller states, “…suffering doesn’t create love, but it is a hot-house where love can emerge.”  As the interactions between Naomi, Ruth and Orpah take place, we are very aware of the suffering these three widows are experiencing.  We see how Naomi has love for them and wants them to return to their people so that they can marry and have children.  But Ruth won’t go and displays love for Naomi which includes a commitment to God.  What kind of love is this?

This is hesed love.  God loves us with a hesed love.  This is described for us on page 24 as a “commitment with sacrifice”, “one-way love”, “without an exit strategy”, and “stubborn love”.  Ruth loves Naomi in this way.  The Lord loves us this way.  I’m to love others this way.  Are you getting the challenge?  Even as I write this, once again, I feel the weight of not doing this well.  We could stop right here and seek to display this in our love but there’s so much more to challenge us.

As the development of the book of Ruth continues, Paul Miller shows how love is part of lament, not based on feelings. The death of ourselves is part of living this love out.  We can see how Ruth continues to display this type of love for Naomi throughout the book.  She continues to put Naomi and her needs before her own.

            “Hesed love is a determination to do someone good, no matter what, to be faithful to a covenant regardless of its impact on you.  It wills to love when every fiber in your body screams run.” Page 34

We see this displayed by Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz in the book of Ruth.  They are a reflection of God’s love to one another.  How can we display and maintain this type of love to others?

1. Get to know God.

“We deepen our love of God not by direct pursuit of God, but through the good work of love, where we enter the gospel and the pattern of Christ’s life becomes our pattern…As we enter a life of love, we get to know God.” Page 138

God wants to be known by his children.  I am so encouraged by this quote, which really is saying to us, it’s not enough to read the Bible and pray every day.  We have to put sacrificial love into practice.  It’s not good enough to just know about it.  As we put this love into practice, we get to know God more.  This is a hard calling but one in which we will grow to be more like Christ who has loved us sacrificially.

2. Hope in God’s Sovereignty

“If God is guiding the pilgrimage, that gives us the hope to endure in love.” Page 128

God is sovereign.  He is in control of all things.  He knows how hard it is to live the life of love in relationships with people who are just like us.  We are all sinful and selfish but we are called to love.  Our hope is that God is aware of the challenges and uses them to grow us.  When the relationship seems hopeless, we can have hope in God to use our sacrificial love for his glory.

3. Trust in our Redeemer, Christ

“Redeemers own the problem; the weight of the other person’s life falls on them.” Page 115

Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross.  His blood was the payment required and God accepted it.  As a follower of Christ, he is my redeemer and I belong to him.  Everything I face in this life, he carries for me.  I’m free to love others well because Christ has loved me well.  Christ’s love for me didn’t stop at the cross but continues today as he walks with me down difficult roads.  His loving care for me gives me the ability to love well.

There’s so much in this book to commend.  It’s a great study of the book of Ruth.  The challenge to love well is the weight of it.  At the end of the book, the challenge to love well is still front and center.  It has caused me to think about my love for others again as I read it.  I highly recommend this books to you and pray God will give us the grace to love well.

            “You simply can’t beat love.  You can’t out-humble it.  You can’t suppress it, because you are always free to love no matter how someone treats you.  If others are putting nails through your hands, you can forgive them.  If someone is shouting curses at you, you can silently receive them.  Love is irrepressible.  Faith and hope will one day pass away, but not love.  Love is forever.” Page 156