By Faith...Joseph, husband of Mary

What kind of righteous man would be able to accept what the angel said and proceed with plans to marry Mary in the face of extreme societal pressures? How much faith is involved in doing what is right? 

The key would seem to be a matter of spiritual discipline. Joseph would have had to have been a man of personal discipline in order to possess spiritual discipline. The Apostle Paul said the "spirit is subject to the prophet..." It is incongruous to anticipate that an individual with no personal discipline would be spiritually disciplined.

With spiritual discipline comes the parameters for understanding what is right and what is wrong. We are warned not to be as those who are blown about by every wind of doctrine, as those who are like shooting stars, or foam on a beach. We are to be stable. Paul said be "steadfast."

The disciplined life of a man who had served his years of apprenticeship in order to become a "carpenter" had made him "righteous" and able to discern the veracity of his dream.

Are you a disciplined person? Do you know the difference between a dream motivated by God and one caused by too much pepperoni pizza?