The Family Love
Key Verse to Read and Treasure
Do not urge me to leave you or to return 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 will I be buried.—Ruth 1:16-17 (ESV)
For Insight
We might be familiar with the three loves identified in the Bible: Eros which is categorized as romantic or physical love. Philia, which we often call brotherly love; that love that connects people in friendship, where we care for others unrelated to us. And Agape, which we say is the highest, most noble form of love. Like the love Jesus had for us when he went to the cross to die for our sins.
But there is another love we see exampled through the Scriptures and that is “Storge”, pronounced Stor-Jay. Which is the love between family members. It’s the love expressed between parents and children, siblings, grandparents with grandchildren, those related to one another through marriage (in-laws), etc.
Some great examples of how family love should look is when we read the story of Ruth and Naomi. It’s especially tender because they were not blood related but related by marriage and even though Naomi’s son was no longer living, the bond she and Ruth formed was as strong and even stronger than biological mother and daughter. There was a beautiful blessing that came out of the love these two women shared and what happened because of their ongoing relationship played a role in the birth of Israel’s future king, David and down the line the Savior of the world would come.
Family love, or “Storge”, may be the place we are tested most in loving since its often much easier to love those unrelated than those we share a bloodline with. But it is the place and relationships we learn to practice godly patience and love, first before loving others.
There is lot to learn from the love Ruth and Naomi shared. Their love and friendship teach us how we can nurture one another—blood related or attached through other ways—and how God can do amazing things through that love. They encourage us to love one another deeply, as Paul wrote in his epistle to the congregations in Rome and to love one another supportively.
We can rejoice that Naomi was open to her daughter-in-law and did not reject her even when Ruth entered a God-fearing home without a background of faith in the same God as Naomi, and how Ruth did not reject her mother-in-law though she held different beliefs and practices. We can praise God that he is at work in our families, making us better people, teaching us how to love one another honorably and in ways that reflect his own character and love for us. We are his own family, after all.
Thank you, Lord for family love. Help us to become better at loving those we share the same blood line with. Amen
Application:
What are the dynamics of your family’s love? On a scale of 1-10 how good are you at contributing to a healthy, loving environment within your family; both core and extended?
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