“All the people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.” Ruth 3:11 (NASB)

The word excellence means to have great virtue, value, and worth. For this to be said about anyone would be remarkable. But for it to be said in Bible times about both a woman and a Moabite is even more amazing. Both Deuteronomy 23:3 and Nehemiah 13:1 state that “no Moabite would ever enter the assembly of God’s people.” Not only is Ruth the Moabite referred to as a “woman of excellence,” but she is also in the lineage of Jesus, Matthew 1:5.

Ruth became a “woman of excellence” because her life displayed three qualities. The first quality was her Commitment. In Ruth chapter 1, Naomi was faced with the decision to return to her homeland due to the death of her husband and two sons. To further complicate this decision, Naomi had two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, who lived with her, and they were Moabites. Naomi knew they would not be welcomed in her homeland because of their race. On two occasions during their journey Naomi gave them opportunities to turn back to Moab. 2 Orpah decided life would be easier if she turned back, but Ruth decided that turning back was not an option.

Ruth 1:16-17, articulates the essence of what true commitment is all about. “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus, may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.”

Commitment means to bind oneself, as if with unbreakable bonds. Commitment is designed to keep you from turning back. Commitment is putting your hand to the plow, Luke 9:62; having a single eye, Matthew 6:22- 24; not being tossed to and fro, Ephesians 4:14; not becoming weary in welling doing, Galatians 6:9; and getting back up after falling, Proverbs 24:1.

A “woman of excellence” is a woman who, when things begin to go bad, doesn’t want to quit, turn back or take the easy way out, but goes forward confidently.

The second quality that sets Ruth apart was her Faith, Ruth 2:1-2. Just like her commitment kept her from going back in the face of racism and prejudice, her faith caused her to go forward expecting to find favor. Not only did she not let circumstances keep her from following Naomi, but she had the faith to believe that those circumstances could and would change. She believed that God would give her favor in the midst of the people’s prejudices and racism.

Faith will part waters and remove obstacles. It will move you past how things are and forward to how things 3 could be. It will take you past present difficulties and into future possibilities. It will cause you to move in faith and not sit in doubt. Commitment says you can’t go back. Faith says you must move forward.

Ruth’s third quality was her Obedience, Ruth 3:3-5. Ruth was willing to put herself in an awkward and vulnerable position in order to obey Naomi’s counsel, which was to go to the threshing floor and lay at Boaz’s feet when he slept on the grain. Her obedience caused God to soften Boaz’s heart and brought her the favor she was seeking.

Ruth’s Commitment kept her from turning back, her faith caused her to move forward, and her obedience brought her the blessings. Her blessing was threefold. First, she became and “excellent wife.” God gave her a good husband in Boaz. Secondly, she became an “effective mother.” She was the mother of Obed, the grandmother of Jesse, and the great-grandmother of King David. Thirdly she became an “exceptional person,” in that she is listed in the genealogy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Ruth lived in a culture that was extremely prejudiced towards the fact that she was a woman, a widow, and a Moabite. She overcame these stigmas and become know as a “woman of excellence” by these same people. If we cultivate these same three qualities, Commitment, Faith and Obedience, we too can become known as “men and women of excellence.”