Loyalty
“Drop ‘Loyalty’ from your vocabulary”. These were the words of Pastor Andy Stanley
to a crowd of pastors and other Christian leaders. He followed that up with a statement that
loyalty didn’t even make it to the “fruit of the Spirit” list.
While I’m sure he believes in loyalty, Andy understands that
loyalty is not something we demand from people; it is something people freely
give. Loyalty is earned by leaders who
through love and service have won the hearts of faithful friends and
followers.
In the Bible there are many examples of loyalty, perhaps
none more famous that Ruth’s loyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi. But Naomi did not demand it; just the
opposite, she urged Ruth to return to her people and remarry after the death of
her husband (Naomi’s son). But Ruth
remained loyal. Naomi had obviously been a great mother-in-law to Ruth, so Ruth
was not about to let her go alone.
So Ruth uttered those famous words to Naomi:
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I
will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your
God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there
I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if
anything but death separates you and me.”
Ruth 1:16-17
Be loyal to those who love you and seek your good. Never demand it. Earn it by loving and serving others.