Don't Humiliate Her
Being in poverty is very difficult. Not having a place to live is depressing, to say the least. Not having enough food to eat, not only causes hunger, but it can lead to a feeling of desperation. Life becomes all about just surviving with no thought for being comfortable and satisfied. This is the situation of many people in the world today, even some people who live around us. In the Old Covenant times God had a system of taking care of poor people that included allowing them to glean in the fields as the grain harvest was being done. They were allowed to go through and pick up what the harvesters missed. Also, God commanded his people to share with those who were in poverty, not charging them interest or expecting anything in return. That is the situation that Ruth found herself in after her husband and her father-in-law had died. She returned to Judah with Naomi, her mother-in-law, even though she was from Moab. Ruth went to glean in the barley harvest when they arrived in Bethlehem. God led her to the field of Boaz, one of the close relatives of Naomi. (Ruth 2:15) He not only let her glean in his field, but he fed her lunch with his harvesters, and he told them to let her gather grain among the bundles of the harvest. Then, he added, "Don't humiliate her." That is a command we need to hear today.
It never helps to humiliate people for their poverty. In fact, it is very detrimental to our society when this is happening. It makes people angry when they are humiliated, and it can bring on bad feelings between groups of people. Instead of humiliating people who have needs, we should sympathize with them. We should consider that one day, we could find ourselves in the same position. Therefore, we should treat them they way we would want to be treated, with love and respect. Isn't that what Jesus did? He spent much time with the masses of people who were not wealthy or powerful. He fed a huge group of over 5,000 people, and He fed them until they were full, which may not have hardly ever happened to them. He did not humiliate them, but He lifted their spirits. I pray that we will all have the attitude of Jesus toward those who don't have as much as we do. I pray we would love them with His love. I pray that we would build them up, and never humiliate them. Our world will be a much better place if all Christians would live this way.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Ruth 3-4 and I Samuel 1.