A Woman of Excellence

Ruth 3:11 “Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.”

I love this verse (and I love the whole book of Ruth)! It inspires me, because I want to be a woman of excellence. But what is a woman of excellence? How does a woman of excellence act? Let’s look at the book of Ruth and at Proverbs 31 to find out!
Ruth 1 starts out rather sad. Ruth’s husband, Mahlon, died after they were married only 10 years. Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, has lost not only her husband, but also both her sons. Now she decides that she needs to leave the land of Moab and return to Bethlehem, the land of her people. Ruth and her sister-in-law want to accompany Naomi on her journey, but Naomi decides this just isn’t fair. Why should two young girls stay with such an old lady? Ruth’s sister-in-law goes home, but Ruth refuses to leave.

“But Ruth said, ‘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.’ (Ruth 1:16-17).”

With this statement, Ruth was basically declaring, “I’m not going back to my old life. I’m going to follow the Lord, and that’s final!”

The first characteristic of a woman of excellence is one who chooses the Lord above all else. She doesn’t return to her old way of life, but presses on into God’s way of life, even though it is an unknown path.

Proverbs 31:30 “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”

In Ruth chapter 2, Ruth decides she needs to go find food. There wasn’t much work for widows at this time, but widows were allowed to go into the fields and gather the leftover grain after the workers were finished. So Ruth goes out to do just that, and she worked hard. This is the second attribute of a woman of excellence: she is a hard worker.

Proverbs 31:13 “She looks for wool and flax And works with her hands in delight.”

Boaz, one of the owners of the fields, notices this young widow at work. Boaz decides that he wants to make sure Ruth is cared for, so he asks her to keep working in his fields so that she’ll get the food she needs, but also so that she’ll be protected. When Ruth goes home, she tells Naomi about Boaz’s kindness to her.

Ruth 3 begins with Naomi hatching a plan. Naomi really wants Ruth to find a husband, and Boaz seems to be the perfect candidate. Naomi tells Ruth, “Wash yourself therefore, and anoint yourself and put on your best clothes, and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. It shall be when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies, and you shall go and uncover his feet and lie down; then he will tell you what you shall do. (Ruth 3:3-4)”

The third characteristic of a woman of excellence is obedience. Ruth did exactly as Naomi told her to, even though this plan was risky. If Boaz wasn’t an honorable man, things could turn out bad.
Thankfully, Boaz is an honorable man, and when Ruth talks to him, he agrees to help her.

“Now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you ask, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence. 12 Now it is true I am a close relative; however, there is a relative closer than I. 13 Remain this night, and when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the Lord lives. Lie down until morning. (Ruth 3:11-13)”

The 4th attribute of a woman of excellence is her godly reputation. She is known as a godly girl because her actions speak louder than words.

In Ruth 4, Boaz meets with the close relative to find out who will redeem Ruth. In the end, Boaz is given the right to redemption, and he takes Ruth as his wife.

Something I notice throughout this story is Ruth’s willingness to take risks. Ruth went with Naomi to Bethlehem. She went to glean in the fields. She went to Boaz in the night. All of these things included a risk, but she did it anyways because she was following God. And God blessed her for it. The 5th attribute of a woman of excellence is being willing to take risks when God says to. Note the “when God says to” part. You should never take risks that don’t glorify God.

Proverbs 31 has several other attributes of a woman of excellence that we can add to our list: