1 Timothy 3

1 How true is that saying! When a man aspires to be a Presiding-Officer in the Church, he is ambitious for a noble task.

2 The Presiding-Officer should be a man of blameless character; a faithful husband; living a temperate, discreet, and well-ordered life; hospitable, and a skilful teacher,

3 not addicted to drink or brawling, but of a forbearing and peaceable disposition, and not a lover of money;

4 he should be a man who rules his own household well, and whose children are kept under control and are well-behaved.

5 If a man does not know how to rule his own household, how can he take charge of the Church of God?

6 The Presiding-Officer should not be a recent convert, that he may not be blinded by pride and fall under the same condemnation as the Devil.

7 He should also be well spoken of by outsiders, that he may not incur censure and so fall into the snares of the Devil.

8 So, too, Assistant-Officers should be serious and straightforward men, not given to taking much drink or to questionable money-making,

9 but men who hold the deep truths of the Faith and have a clear conscience.

10 They should be tested first, and only appointed to their Office if no objection is raised against them.

11 It should be the same with the women. They should be serious, not gossips, sober, and trustworthy in all respects.

12 Assistant-Officers should be faithful husbands, and men who rule their children and their households well.

13 Those who have filled that post with honour gain for themselves an honourable position, as well as great confidence through the faith that they place in Christ Jesus.

14 I am writing this to you, though I hope that I shall come to see you before long;

15 but in case I should be delayed, I want you to know what your conduct ought to be in the Household of God, which is the Church of the Living God — the pillar and stay of the Truth.

16 Yes, and confessedly wonderful are the deep truths of our religion; for — ‘He was revealed in our nature, Pronounced righteous in spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Taken up into glory.’