Mary’s phrase, “Be it unto me as You have said,” moves willingness from a passive thought into an active commitment. It is consent without full clarity.

And that consent cost Mary dearly.

Her obedience required her to forfeit things she likely valued above all else:

• Her Reputation: A teenage girl carrying a child under suspicious circumstances in a culture where this could mean complete disgrace.

• Her Family’s Approval: Explaining the unexplainable to disappointed or skeptical parents.

• Her Relationships: Risking rejection from Joseph, the man she loved and was promised to marry.

Obedience almost always costs us something we value: reputation, certainty, or control. Yet, God, in His grace, invited Joseph into the story as well. He, too, chose desire for God over self-preservation, demonstrating that the cost is always worth the divine invitation.