Consider the situation Joseph found himself in at the time his betrothed, Mary, told him she was pregnant with a child. To protect Mary from public humiliation, the Bible says, Joseph was going to quietly divorce her and allow her to have the child in a private manner (Matthew 1:19). Surely, though, Joseph was thinking of himself as well--the shame that would fall upon him when word got out that his future wife had conceived a child. In that day, the shame for Joseph would have been even greater than that for Mary. But we see the kind of man Joseph was (a "just man") when he publicly obeyed the call of God and embraced Mary's divine commission to carry the Son of God to term and become His earthly father.

In Joseph is a lesson for us: Even if obedience to God brings shame from the world, obedience is the righteous path.

courtesy of turning point ministries