Ruth 1:16-17 (AMP)
16 And Ruth said, Urge me not to leave you or to 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.
17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts me from you.
Loyalty is the feeling of allegiance, the act of binding yourself intellectually or emotionally to another person, a relationship or course of action.
There is a sense of commitment, faithfulness, and friendship in Godly loyalty. Loyalty requires a rational and personal commitment, which allows one to stick with another or thing without doubt or fear and does not allow hurt to turn to turn one away.
A loyal person with go to the extreme no matter what the endgame will be.
The Lord shows us how to be loyal through His character of faithfulness or loyalty as seen in Psalm 25:10, and in Psalm 31:23, His loyalty is expressed in His inability to give up on anyone-no matter how many times and how much we disappoint Him-He refuses to give up on you and me.
How far will you go for someone?
Do you only commit to things when all the plans are outlined?
Or would you commit to going all the way even if you’re unsure of the outcome?
The Bible describes several examples of Godly loyalty for us to emulate.
Matthew 6:21 says that wherever your treasure is, is where your heart will be also.
Luke 16:13 tells us that we cannot have divided loyalty- we cannot serve God and mammon.
Jesus says in Matthew 12:30 that if we are either for or against Him.
Jesus says to give to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s in Matthew 22:21. You cannot compromise in loyalty.
Ruth in 1:14-16 exhibited a deep sense of commitment to a relationship in which she had no clue where it was heading but she gave it her all. Hers was a mark of true friendship and commitment.
Mark 2:1-12 describes an interesting story of deep commitment, friendship, and loyalty without compromise. Imagine if this man’s friends had given up because of the crowd? Their loyalty and love for their friend, made them go all the way, even as far as ripping out someone’s rooftop to reach their goal. Godly loyalty has no limit.
This is the kind of friendship Proverbs 17:17 refers to. A loyal friend sticks to you always, good, bad, deadly and unprofitable-they are with you because the friendship is not based on anything but love.
We claim loyalty to products, manufactures and organisations, we even have loyalty cards of some companies, which helps us contribute to their growth industrially and financially, but we do not offer to the Lord the same loyalty. There are those, who because of loyalty to certain things, products and people will not entertain the idea of changing direction even if that loyalty is corrupted.
If we claim loyalty to God, we can’t also claim loyalty to anything that takes propriety over God.
Godly loyalty is the total commitment to everything. To God, it means your all-heart, spirit, soul, body, time, and finance (your money), not sometimes but all the time, not when it suits you but when it suits the Lord.
According to 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, we all belong to Christ, and our ultimate loyalty is to Him, not to a denomination, to a church, or man of God but God. Loyal obedience to God is mandatory.
Shalom