How Is a Loyal Girl Rewarded?

Claire Black: Hola, Chica Verdadera! Este es un podcast para niñas y sus mamás! 

No, you’re not in the wrong place. I just thought saying the opening in Spanish was fitting today since we’re in . . . The Dominican Republic!

Get ready for an awesome experience! Beautiful beaches, merengue music, and tasty flan are just a few rewards for visiting this country. 

Speaking of rewards, we’ll also study chapter four of Ruth’s story to see how a loyal girl is rewarded by God. We’re with Dannah Gresh and Staci Rudolph for season 9, episode 5, called “How Is a Loyal Girl Rewarded?”

Here’s Staci!

Staci Rudolph: I tell ya, I don’t know if I’m comin’ or goin’ these days! Seems like we’re on one side of the world one day and then the other side the next. And let me just say, this side is even hotter than our last stop! 

Dannah Gresh: What did you expect, Staci? We started the True Girl Travel Agency, and we’re taking this fine True Girl and her mom on The Ruth Package! You knew we were headed to the Dominican Republic. You need to dump that hoodie for shorts and a t-shirt!

Staci: I know, but look at them; they’re sweating too! Don’t worry guys, I promise we’ll get you into some shade really soon.

Dannah: I love it here. True Girl, did you know we have a branch of True Girl here called Chica Verdadera? Marlene Luna is our director, and she is such a great leader. About ten years ago, she wrote to me and said, “You have to come work in the DR. We need you here.”

But at the time I was sooooo busy. I decided to pray about it. “Lord, do you want me to go to the D.R.?”

And guess what?

Staci: What?

Dannah: In the few short weeks I was praying about it, my friend Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth asked me if I’d do the first ever Revive Our Hearts international True Woman event with her . . . in the Dominican Republic?

Staci: So, I guess the answer was yes. 

Dannah: Of course, I was a little afraid of what the future would look like but . . . 

Staci: A loyal girl trusts God. 

Dannah: Exactly! Today the Chica Verdadera team—that’s True Girl in Spanish—is ministering through all of Latin America.

Staci: Did Marlene give us any tips for our visit here in the Dominican Republic? Hey, will we be able to catch up with her and her girls?

Dannah: Absolutely! They called while we were on the plane. Let’s listen to their voicemail.

Marlene, Lisbeth, and Lisette: Hi Dannah and Staci! Welcome to the Dominican Republic!

Marlene: It’s Marlene!

Lisbeth: And Lisbeth!

Lisette: And Lisette!

Marlene: We’re so excited you guys are here! There’s so much to see and do in the Dominican Republic. While you’re in the capital city of Santo Domingo, make sure you visit the Colonial District. There’slots of history and cool places to hang out. Be sure to get some good mofongo. Then you can make the journey here to Jarabacoa where we are, we’ll have some fun in the mountains and get some very good flan because we know it’s Dannah’s favorite. Flan is a dessert that’s smooth custard and caramelized sugar. It’s muy deliciouso. Go ahead and get settled into your hotel, and we’ll see you soon!”

All: Bye! 

Staci: Aw, I can’t wait to see them! And this is why you were so insistent that we come here to the Colonial District.

Dannah: Yeah.

Staci: After Christopher Columbus's arrival on the island in 1492, Santo Domingo became the site of the first cathedral, hospital, customs house, and university in the Americas. This colonial town, founded in 1498, was laid out on a grid pattern that became the model for almost all town planners in the New World.

Dannah: Yes, everyone come close. All the buildings you see came to be after Christopher Columbus arrived here in 1492. 

Staci: Hey, “In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”

Dannah: I have to say guys, we’ve been doing a great job studying Ruth’s story and learning how to become girls of loyalty.

Staci: I agree! We’ve been loyally hopping on these flights.

Dannah: And loyally learning about other cultures and what it’s like to live in new places, kind of like foreigners.

Staci: And loyally seeing new sights.

Dannah: And loyally trying new foods.

Staci: Okay okay, I think we could do this all day. But the real question is, are we learning why it’s worth it to have the quality of loyalty in our lives? What are we doing this all for?

Dannah: Well, that’s a good question. Loyalty doesn’t usually win you a blue ribbon or even get you recognized as a leader or fantastic human being. It’s kind of a quiet trait. So, it’s easy to grow weary when the same friend needs more loyal support. Loyalty requires perseverance, and it’s a choice you will have to make every day.

We all need to be reminded of why we choose loyalty. Today as we dig into Ruth chapter 4, we’re going to be looking at what the reward is for loyalty.

Staci: Hey, you think we could go grab a cold pineapple smoothie over there before we get rollin’? I’d love something refreshing to sip on as we chat.

Dannah: I think that’s a great idea. My favorite drink here is fresh squeezed chinola juice. Let’s go! 

Dominican Woman: Hola!! Bienvenidas, ¿Okay y diganme qué van a querer hoy?

Dannah: No hables español. Lo siento!

Dominican Woman: Ah, no worries! What would you guys like?

Staci: I would like a pineapple smoothie. 

Dominican Woman: Si! Claro! Bby the way that means “of course!”) That’s a pineapple smoothie over there that I just sold!

Staci: Look, they can even give it to you in a real pineapple!

Dannah: Oh wow! 

Dominican Woman: Of course. 

Dannah: I’d love a fresh squeezed chinola juice, por favor.

Dominican Woman: You’ve got it! Jugo de chinola comin’ up!

Dannah: Those smoothies look like they’re going to be delicious!

Staci: I’m sure it will be! I’ll go grab a table. This table a little further from the music, so we can chat.

Dannah: Ah, perfect. Feels nice to get in some shade too. 

Staci: Well, look at that. 

Dominican Woman: Here’s your pineapple smoothie in a pineapple, and your jugo de chinola. Enjoy!

Staci: Thanks.

Dannah: Okay, now, let’s get back to what we were talking about. Earlier I was saying that it can be tough to see loyalty as a quality worth having because it’s one that isn’t always recognized by others. But the truth is that there’s a reward for being a girl of loyalty, and we’re going to see it today as we look at the fourth chapter of Ruth. 

Staci: I'm excited to get to it. Chapter 3 left us on a cliffhanger! Remember? Ruth had boldly approached Boaz and asked him to marry her to provide for, or redeem, her family line. He said he would do it, but there was someone else in town he had to ask first. It wasn’t just marriage to Ruth that was on the table. 

There was also the land that belonged to Naomi’s family. Whoever married Ruth also got all that land. There was another family member who was first in line to inherit the land, which meant he could also get to marry Ruth! Can you say, “Plot twist!”?

Dannah: I sure can. Plot twist.

Staci: Good job. So, Boaz had to ask this man if he wanted to marry the girl he must have been falling for. (We don’t know for sure, but I think Ruth and Boaz reeeaaally liked each other.)

Dannah: Yeah, me too. 

Staci: Now, Ruth didn’t know who she was going to end up marrying. Talk about a crazy situation. Boaz told Ruth he would let her know the answer soon. I can’t wait to see what he says!

Dannah: Do you remember what Naomi told Ruth to do at the end of Chapter 3?

Staci: She told her to wait patiently.

Dannah: Yep. And that’s exactly what you need to do.

Staci: Ah, well played. Alright, alright! Someday my prince will come!

Dannah: Okay, so we covered the fact that you’re probably not waiting patiently right now to figure out who you are going to marry, True Girl. But you might be waiting patiently for God to fix a broken friendship or to get permission to have something you want. Each of these requires loyalty, too.

Loyalty lesson #4 is this: a loyal girl is patient while she waits to see what God is going to do in her life.

Here’s the truth about being loyal: the reward is not always going to be right in front of us. Sometimes we won’t know what God is doing or which way things are going to go. That’s a little scary, isn’t it? 

So, is being loyal really worth it? 

I’m glad you asked. Let’s look at another verse in the Bible to see. It’s Galatians 6:4–5 and 9. Wanna read it, Stace?

Staci: Sure!

Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct. . . . So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

So, if we don’t give up doing what is good (including being loyal), we will “reap a harvest of blessing”?

Dannah: Yep. Ever grow something? Like maybe a lima bean in a Styrofoam cup? It seems like teachers always want us to grow lima beans because they grow super-fast compared to other seeds, but they still require a lot of waiting, and loyal watering, and sunshine. But eventually . . . there it is.

These verses say that if we can be patient like that, we’ll grow something, but it won’t be lima beans. It will be blessings! 

A blessing is something that makes a person feel satisfied, safe, and happy and thankful, even. It’s a good thing. The Bible tells us about a whole lot of blessings. There are dozens. Things like: abilities, faith, freedom from fear, love, and lots of others.

Staci: So while we’re in the waiting phase, we have to trust that God is going to bless us. And He blesses us because He loves us so much!

While Ruth was being patient and waiting to see the outcome, she didn’t have to wonder if her life was going to fall apart. 

Instead, Ruth could trust that God would reward her loyalty with a blessing . . . but when?

Dannah: Well, remember what verse 9 from Galatians 6 said? Let me read it one more time.

“So, let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

Did you catch that? “At just the right time.” 

Staci: Well, that’s not very specific, but it is a good promise. 

Dannah: It is. I think it isn’t very specific because it takes trust. It could be years and years before God gives you a special friend or restores a broken friendship. It could be that you’ll never make the basketball team, but one day God will make you the coach of a really good community team. 

It could be that you’ll never get that horse you’ve prayed for . . . until you’re like forty-two years old! That’s sooooo old, but that’s how old I was when God finally gave me mine. In the meantime, I kept serving Him. I was loyal even though I didn’t have what I’d hoped for from Him.

Well, maybe you never get the horse you want, or your broken friendship never gets fixed, that doesn’t mean this verse isn’t true.

You see, there are a lot of ways God might reward our loyalty. We don’t get to pick what it looks like. We get to be patient and remain loyal to Him. 

Well, let’s look in the fourth chapter, Ruth 4, to find some ways God rewarded our heroine. Remember, Boaz was about to go into town to talk to the man who could marry Ruth, the girl that I think he was now kind of excited to consider marrying! Let’s see what happens next. 

Staci: Finally!

Dannah: Here’s Ruth 4:1–13

Boaz went to the town gate and took a seat there. Just then the family redeemer he had mentioned came by, so Boaz called out to him, “Come over here and sit down, friend. I want to talk to you.” So they sat down together. Then Boaz called ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses. And Boaz said to the family redeemer, “You know Naomi, who came back from Moab. She is selling the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. I thought I should speak to you about it so that you can redeem it if you wish. If you want the land, then buy it here in the presence of these witnesses. But if you don’t want it, let me know right away, because I am next in line to redeem it after you.”

The man replied, “All right, I’ll redeem it.”

Then Boaz told him, “Of course, your purchase of the land from Naomi also requires that you marry Ruth, the Moabite widow. That way she can have children who will carry on her husband’s name and keep the land in the family.”

“Then I can’t redeem it,” the family redeemer replied, “because this might endanger my own estate. You redeem the land; I cannot do it.”

Now in those days it was the custom in Israel for anyone transferring a right of purchase to remove his sandal and hand it to the other party. This publicly validated the transaction. So the other family redeemer drew off his sandal as he said to Boaz, “You buy the land.”

Then Boaz said to the elders and to the crowd standing around, “You are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in his hometown. You are all witnesses today.”

Then the elders and all the people standing in the gate replied, “We are witnesses! May the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. And may the Lord give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.”

So Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son.

Staci: Well, would you look at that! After all that she’d been through, Ruth got to start a family with a good man! 

Dannah: Yes, she did. By being married, she knew she was safe in her society. By having a child, she was able to continue her family line. And she got to do those things with a man she knew was kind and generous and good! God rewarded Ruth’s loyalty by allowing her to see her dreams come true.

You know, after all the sadness she experienced with losing her husband before, God gave her a new husband. 

After all the long hours she spent working hard on the farm for food, she married the farm owner, so she would never have to go without food. 

And after being so brave to come up with a plan to save her family line, God gave her a son so that her family could continue to grow! 

This certainly was a happy ending for Ruth. Ruth got to see exactly how God rewarded her! And sometimes, that’s how God does it. Sometimes God rewards us by giving our story a happy ending.

Staci: Wait! Did you say sometimes!? So, what happens the rest of the time?

Dannah: Yes, well, it’s true that our loyalty isn’t always rewarded with a happy ending in the way that we might think. Tying up our story in a pretty little bow like we just read that He did for Ruth is only one way that God rewards our loyalty. Let’s finish reading chapter 4 to find the other ways God sometimes rewards our loyalty. Pick it up at verse 14 would ya Staci?

Staci: Of course!

Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!”

Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed.

He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.

This is the genealogical record of their ancestor Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab.

Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon. Salmon was the father of Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David. (vv. 14–22)

Dannah: Okay, now we didn’t read it, but in the beginning of the book of Ruth, Naomi saw the neighbor women and told them she wanted to change her name to “bitter.” She felt like God had forgotten her. She didn’t think she would ever be happy again. 

But look at her now! She was holding a new grandbaby, and the neighbor women were saying, “Look at what God did for Naomi!” Naomi’s story was changed to a happy ending because of Ruth’s act of loyalty. You better believe that was part of Ruth’s reward too!

And it gets even better than that!

Ruth’s son had a son who had a son who had a son, and it goes on for so long! Why does that matter? Well, the story of Ruth ends with a genealogy, or family tree, to show us Ruth’s family line. Ruth’s super-great-great-great grandson was David. Why does it matter that Ruth’s family line leads to David? Well, if we take a look later on in the Bible at the start of the book of Matthew, we’d see that Jesus’ family line looks pretty familiar, and that’s because Ruth’s family line is the very same as Jesus’s family line. In fact, when we read all the way down the genealogy in the book of Matthew, it ends like this in verse 16:

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

Staci: The genealogy shows us that Ruth became the great-great-great-great (and a lot more greats) grandma to Jesus!

Dannah: You got it. 

• Ruth was loyal to her family by staying with Naomi and following her to a new country.
• She was loyal to her family by going out and working to find food in the fields where she met Boaz.
• And she was loyal to her family when she boldly fought for it to continue by asking Boaz to marry her.

And during all of that time, she had no idea that her family was specially chosen by God to be the family that Jesus was born into many years later. While Ruth was choosing to do boring, normal tasks out of obedience and loyalty, God was using her story to help bring the Messiah to the world. 

Staci: But Ruth never knew that, huh? I mean, she grew old with her family, but she wasn’t around when Jesus was born more than one thousand years later. So, she never got to see that great big reward for her loyalty. 

Dannah: Nope, but she was full of faith in God, because she knew that even if she didn’t see God’s reward, He was using her story in His story.

Sometimes this is how God wants to reward our loyalty. He might also be waiting to let our dreams come true, or give us that thing we’ve always wanted. Or, He might show us how big of a difference we’ve made in someone’s life. But most importantly, He might be using us to be one of the people in the big, grand story of how much God loves His people.

Ruth was humble. Her life wasn’t extra special. But the reason we are still reading her story today, thousands of years later, is because God chose to use her normal, everyday loyalty to be part of the most extraordinary story in all of history. 

Staci: That’s incredible. Choosing to live a life of loyalty is a big commitment! Let’s think back on all the lessons we’ve learned on loyalty so far. We’ve learned that: a loyal girl decides to be loyal over and over again.

Dannah: And she stands by people when times are hard.

Staci: We’ve learned that a loyal girl steps up when she sees loneliness.

Dannah: And that she doesn’t fear the future, but she fights for it to be good.

Staci: Absolutely. So, naturally, now we want to ask, “What do I get for doing all of those loyal things?” Our loyalty is never for nothing, but one important characteristic of loyalty is that we don’t ask for anything in return.

Remember our definition of loyalty? It’s choosing to love over and over and over again.

If we’re just doing something for the reward, it’s not really love, is it? So, first things first, we have to remember that our commitment to loyalty comes from a place of love, not seeking a reward! If there’s anything we can learn from Ruth, it’s that loyalty is a lifestyle. It can affect every aspect of our lives!

Dannah: And Staci, when we live a lifestyle of loyalty, we allow ourselves to be used by God to complete His story—in our own lives, in the lives of those around us, and maybe even in the lives of people we will never meet way in the future! When we live a life where we patiently wait to see what our loyalty will reap in return, here’s what God says will happen. 

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)

Staci: Crown of life? Is that like a princess crown that you wear on your head?

Dannah: Not quite! The crown of life isn’t something that turns us into royalty. When the Bible mentions a “crown of life,” it’s saying that it’s similar to the way we would say “crown of daisies” or “crown of gold.” But in this case, life is actually the material that the crown is made of!

Staci: Wait a minute. You’re saying we can wear life on our head? You’ve gotta break this down for us, Dannah Gresh.

Dannah: Don’t worry, I will. When we live the lifestyle of loyalty, our life itself is like a beautiful crown that we get to wear. Our reputation and the way we have chosen to live is a symbol of our honor. It’s a beautiful collection of all the loyal and lovely things that we have done. That is what God wants us to seek after—not a big trophy or super cool happy ending, but living a life that is beautiful all on its own!

True Girl, do you ever feel like you do things just for high fives? Maybe you only help your mom carry the groceries when you know someone is watching, or maybe you only do your chores because you want to make an allowance. We don’t want to live our lives searching for jewels.

Staci: No ma’am. When we decide to live a life of loyalty, it basically means that we’re choosing to put God and others before ourselves. We don’t want to seek after any earthly crown or attention! 

Dannah: And God promises us that when we live that way, our life will be full of so much beauty it will almost be like we’re wearing a crown made not of real diamonds and jewels, but of beautiful things in our lives! Jewels of life. You know, God has blessed me with such beautiful jewels of life as I’ve learned to practice loyalty over the years. I’ve had some amazing friendships, better relationships with family, and lots of others.

Staci: That’s awesome, Dannah. I feel the same way. God is so good in the way He cares for and blesses us with jewels of life. 

Dannah: Something to remember is that an important part of loyalty is our prayer life. If we believe that talking to God is the most important thing, we can do to help someone, then we should talk to Him a lot about the people He has put in our lives. 

Ask God for the strength to remain loyal to those He’s placed in your life. You need His help to do it.

Staci: Yep! And praise God for those who have been loyal to you. Maybe people who have been like Boaz in your life—providing for and protecting you.

True Girl, I hope you’ll start looking for more of the beautiful jewels that He is putting into your crown of life, and not just the ones you get to experience here and now. We’re praying that this study will give you a desire to care about future generations, too. People you may never know will be impacted by the way you live your life today. Your life of loyalty is going to be absolutely beautiful!

Dannah: I think so too! Well guys, believe it or not, we’ve actually studied the entire book of Ruth! 

Staci: Whoa, you’re right! That doesn’t mean we’re done, does it?! Say it ain’t so!

Dannah: It ain’t so, Staci. 

Staci: Okay. 

Dannah: We have one more stop to make. I mean, we did choose the destinations together.

Staci: Oh yeah, you’re right.

Dannah: We’ve got a little more to unpack. Well, a lot actually. Did you notice that God doesn’t seem to show up in this book of the Bible? Or does He? We’ll have to wait until our next stop to find out.

Staci: I can’t wait!

Dannah: But until then, let’s enjoy the Dominican Republic. I feel refreshed and ready to roll. Let’s catch up with Marlene and the girls. I can hear that flan calling my name right now “Daaannnnahh, Daaannnnaaahhh” 

Staci: Yep, the heat’s starting to get to her, True Girl.

Claire: Congratulations! You just studied the entire book of Ruth! Don’t close your Bible yet, though. Our journey with the True Girl Travel Agency isn’t done. The Ruth Package has one more stop to make! 

Did you notice that Dannah said God wasn’t mentioned in the book of Ruth? Really. He’s not mentioned at all! But . . . is He? Next week we’ll learn that the book of Ruth isn’t about Ruth at all. So, make sure you come back to find out who it is about!

But until next time, you could make some flan. It’s Dannah’s favorite, but be warned, it’s a challenging undertaking. Maybe you could just make a pineapple smoothie. Staci seemed to enjoy hers! We’d love to see you enjoying it, so ask your mom to post a picture on Instagram and tag @truegirlofficial. 

Also, talk with your mom about loyalty lesson #4: a loyal girl is patient while she waits to see what God is going to do in her life! Of course, all these loyalty lessons are from the Bible study Ruth: Becoming a Girl of Loyalty, by Dannah Gresh. You can get a copy of that at MyTrueGirl.com. 

That’s also where you can learn about all of our Bible studies for tween girls. We just released an ALL NEW on-demand Bible study for moms and daughters, based on the book Lies Girls Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free. You can learn about that at MyTrueGirl.com/LiesGirlsBelieve! 

The True Girl podcast is produced by Revive Our Hearts calling women of all ages to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ!

Scripture is taken from the NLT.

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