I Timothy 3

“Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money” (v3- 4). The instructions for those who would be church leaders assume good doctrine (v9) but emphasize good behavior. Leaders who serve in the Body of Christ (overseers and also deacons, v8-13) must demonstrate what following Jesus looks like, so they can mentor by example as well as words; otherwise, they lack credibility.

Godly leadership is essential because we are “the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (v15).