The Right Thing
Words of Faith 9-10-26
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2026
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Matthew 1
[18] This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. [19] Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
[20] But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. [21] She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

Sometimes we set out to do the wrong thing for the right reason. Take Joseph, for example.

The Bible says that he was a righteous man. No doubt he was heartbroken when he learned that his betrothed fiancé, whom he understood to be a virgin, was pregnant! Many would have been enraged at such a betrayal.

We need to understand that betrothal was a careful process. The betrothal included a contract, called a ketuba, between Joseph’s family and Mary’s father. A price was paid, and her family name guaranteed her virtue. It now appeared that Mary had betrayed this trust. According to the law, Mary could have been stoned to death for such a transgression. It seemed that she had certainly disgraced her family.

But Joseph was a “righteous man”. The Greek does not mean that Joseph was without sin or that he was “justified” before God, but rather that he was an equitable and just man. He sought to do the right thing for a merciful reason. Rather than demand a stoning, he instead determined to exercise his right under rabbinic law to break the ketuba contract and divorce her quietly.

As he lay his head down to get some restless sleep, Joseph was no doubt certain that he was doing the right and merciful thing. He was doing the most merciful thing he could do in such a shattering situation. But he was in for a surprise.

The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. It was a time of correction.

"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

No matter how righteous and merciful Joseph had thought he was being, God had something quite different in mind. In fact, Joseph was wrong. Dead wrong. He would have to swallow his pride and change his decision to be in God’s will. We can learn a lot from that.

Sometimes we set out to do the wrong thing for the right reason. There are times when we can’t see what God is really up to. We are certain that we are “right”, even merciful! By all logic and legal reasoning, we may set out to do what we think is the merciful and righteous thing, only to find out that we are wrong! We are missing God’s will.

The only way to know the difference is to listen. The only way to correct things is to swallow our pride. We need to be more in tune with God than we are with our logic. We must listen more carefully to the Spirit than we do to our own sense of “righteousness”.

Are you listening to God? Have you set out to do a “right” thing for all the right reasons, but God is showing you otherwise? His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.

Lord, I am listening. Reveal Your will and Your way to me. Show me Your path. Dispel from me my prideful decisions and instill in me Your righteousness and mercy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2025
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2025 Jeffrey D. Hoy.