The Power of Love

Ruth 3.18

Love is the most powerful force in the world.
Hate can drive a person for a while. Love is eternal. Til death do us part.

Hateful movements have lasted as long as people could be held hostage but all of them have fallen. Jesus Christ has been building His Church for 2,000 years. The mark of it is love.

I love it when the church is complimented for its love. I used to like to hear about numbers, great visions, strategies. When I was young and immature I needed ti a degree the affirmation of bringing a good message. But the greatest is love.

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The love between a husband towards his wife is like the love Christ has for the church.
Ephesians 5:25, 28 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.


Boaz was in love. He fell in love with Ruth. An interesting courtship.
Unusual events. For the gleaners the end of the harvest meant rough times.

He had noticed her right away.
He found out about her.
He was attracted to her heart and soul.

I love Naomi's words in verse 18.
Rest = to be quiet, be tranquil, be at peace, be quiet, rest, lie still, be undisturbed
Love shakes you up on the inside
It makes you do some crazy things.
Missionary movements have been launched with love for a certain people on earth by someone who deeply loves them.
Oswald Chambers
Larry Mancini
If you debate for even one second when God has spoken, it is all over for you. Never start to say, “Well, I wonder if He really did speak to me?” Be reckless immediately— totally unrestrained and willing to risk everything— by casting your all upon Him. You do not know when His voice will come to you, but whenever the realization of God comes, even in the faintest way imaginable, be determined to recklessly abandon yourself,

Larry Mancini
Launch out in reckless, unrestrained belief that the redemption is complete. Then don’t worry anymore about yourself, but begin to do as Jesus Christ has said...


Before the day was out Ruth would know if Boaz was going to be her husband or not. He was going to press the issue with the one before him. He was going to bring things to a head.

In this chapter we get a picture of love.

1. Love is Persistent.
It overcomes obstacles.
It refuses to die.
It presses forward.
It always protects, always hopes, always perseveres.

Persistent love brings people to the LORD ...my Nana

We give up too easily. We are not talking about being codependent. Being codependent is a perversion of love. It is the opposite of what is needed: tough love.


2. Love is Respectful
It seeks the highest good of its object.
It takes the object of its affections into consideration.
It is concerned about the feelings of others.

Love is the most unselfish thing in the world. It is not self seeking.
Love is others focused. Jesus was that in the fullest sense. He emptied Himself of all but love.


3. Love Never Fails
Other things will fail but you always win when you love.
Love is the greatest conqueror in the world.
Love can make all things new in a person's life.

Love is much more than words, although words can express love. Love is more than a feeling although feeling is part of love. Love is seen in deeds.

1 John 3:11, 16, 18 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Hebrews 13:1-3 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.