Loving God and believing God loves you forms a healthy foundation for both receiving love from others and giving love in return. Which means that genuine, self-sacrificing love is actually impossible apart from having first received the love of Jesus Christ. David wrote, Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it (Psalm 127:1). True love is a three-party transaction. The amazing, self-sacrificing commitment that Ruth will offer Naomi will be possible only because Ruth has first
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