When the Lord Requires Your Reputation: As Matthew records his brief record of Jesus' birth, he chooses to highlight the cost to Joseph and Mary, and the sacrifice they were being asked to make. In a very real way, God's plans unfold as people decide that his purposes are worthy every sacrifice. For Joseph and Mary, it was their reputations. No one from Nazareth would ever look at them as a righteous couple again. Their choice of obedience marked them. From that point on they were the couple who had violated the law of Moses, and brought shame on their community, and their families. This is a price they gladly paid to carry out God's purposes on the earth. May we be so willing when God calls us to such sacrifices.