Matthew 1
18. These are the facts concerning the birth of Jesus Christ: His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
19. Then Joseph, her fiancee, being a man of stern principle, decided to break the engagement but to do it quietly, as he didn't want to publicly disgrace her.
LB

Joseph is one of the most remarkable men in the Bible.
God chose him for the important assignment of being the earthly father-figure in the life of His Son, Jesus.
But, as is many times the case, God didn't let Joseph know this before Mary's pregnancy became evident.

Verse 19 tells us that Joseph was a man of stern principle.
That means he was the kind of man God could trust not to have been physically or sexually intimate with Mary before they were married.

But we see he was also a sensitive man.
He knew he was not responsible for Mary's pregnancy.
However, he had enough regard for her, not to want to disgrace her publicly, even though he must have had many questions about what kind of girl she really was and how he could have been so mistaken about her being a person of integrity!

Prayer:
Father, thank You for being a God of stern principle, like Your servant Joseph, so that I can trust that You will always regard me with unconditional love.
Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to be raised by a man of stern principle like Joseph.
Make me a principled person whom You can trust with important assignments, as You could trust him,
in Jesus' name,
Amen.