When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more… (Ruth 1:28) She did not thank Ruth for her incredible sacrifice, give her a hug, tell her that she loved her -nothing, she just shut right up. The good things we do should never be for the purpose of winning the approval of the one we do them for. If this was true for Ruth she would be completely offended at this point. “Look at all I am doing for her and she doesn’t even have the decency to say thank you!”
When you do the right thing because you serve God it’s much harder to become offended when people don’t appreciate your sacrifice. You are not doing it for them! Because I serve God I can continue to bless people in need whether they appreciate me or not. This is such a liberating position. We are so often controlled by the actions of others. We react to people and our emotions come under their grasp but not so much in this view. People can do whatever they want. They can like me or not like me, appreciate my sacrifice or not it doesn’t matter, I serve God. I love God by loving my neighbor that is all.