50 Bible Verses about Ministry, Qualifications For

The Lord did not give you his love or take you for himself because you were more in number than any other people; for you were the smallest of the nations: But because of his love for you, and in order to keep his oath to your fathers, the Lord took you out with the strength of his hand, making you free from the prison-house and from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

And after the Lord has sent them in flight from before you, say not in your heart, Because of my righteousness the Lord has given me this land; when it is because of their evil-doing that the Lord is driving these nations out before you. Not for your righteousness or because your hearts are upright are you going in to take their land; but because of the evil-doing of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and to give effect to his oath to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But God made selection of the foolish things of this world so that he might put the wise to shame; and the feeble things that he might put to shame the strong; And the low things of the world, and the things without honour, did God make selection of, yes, even the things which are not, so that he might make as nothing the things which are: So that no flesh might have glory before God.

And Moses said to God, Who am I to go to Pharaoh and take the children of Israel out of Egypt?

And he said to him, O Lord, how may I be the saviour of Israel? See, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

And Saul said, Am I not a man of Benjamin, the smallest of all the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of the families of Benjamin? why then do you say these words to me?

And David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my father's family in Israel, that I am to be son-in-law to the king?

And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in the place of David my father; and I am only a young boy, with no knowledge of how to go out or come in.

Then I said, The curse is on me, and my fate is destruction; for I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies.

Then said I, O Lord God! see, I have no power of words, for I am a child.

Then the Lord came and said as before, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel made answer, Say on, Lord; for the ears of your servant are open.

And the voice of the Lord came to my ears, saying, Whom am I to send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I, send me.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not seen are true. For by it our fathers had God's approval.

And Jacob said, I am Esau, your oldest son; I have done as you said: come now, be seated and take of my meat, so that you may give me a blessing. And Isaac said, How is it that you have got it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord your God made it come my way. And Isaac said, Come near so that I may put my hand on you, my son, and see if you are truly my son Esau or not.read more.
And Jacob went near his father Isaac: and he put his hands on him; and he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he did not make out who he was, because his hands were covered with hair like his brother Esau's hands: so he gave him a blessing. And he said, Are you truly my son Esau? And he said, I am.

And the Lord said to Moses, Go up into this mountain of Abarim so that you may see the land which I have given to the children of Israel. And when you have seen it, you will be put to rest with your people, as your brother Aaron was: Because in the waste land of Zin, when the people were angry, you and he went against my word and did not keep my name holy before their eyes, at the waters. (These are the waters of Meribah in Kadesh in the waste land of Zin.)

And David sent and took her; and she came to him, and he took her to his bed: (for she had been made clean;) then she went back to her house.

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had twice come to him in a vision; And had given him orders about this very thing, that he was not to go after other gods; but he did not keep the orders of the Lord. So the Lord said to Solomon, Because you have done this, and have not kept my agreement and my laws, which I gave you, I will take the kingdom away from you by force and will give it to your servant.read more.
I will not do it in your life-time, because of your father David, but I will take it from your son. Still I will not take all the kingdom from him; but I will give one tribe to your son, because of my servant David, and because of Jerusalem, the town of my selection.

And he got together his twelve disciples and gave them the power of driving out unclean spirits, and of making well all sorts of disease and pain. Now the names of the twelve are these: The first, Simon, who is named Peter, and Andrew, his brother; James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax-farmer; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;read more.
Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who was false to him.

And he took twelve to be with him, so that he might send them out as preachers, And give them the power of driving out evil spirits: To Simon he gave the second name of Peter;read more.
And to James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, he gave the second name of Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder: And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot; And Judas Iscariot, who was false to him.

And it came about in those days that he went out to the mountain for prayer; and he was all night in prayer to God. And the day came and, turning to his disciples, he made a selection from among them of twelve, to whom he gave the name of Apostles; Simon, to whom he gave the name of Peter, and Andrew, his brother, and James and John and Philip and Bartholomewread more.
And Matthew and Thomas and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was named the Zealot, And Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, he who was false to him.

But the Lord said, Go without fear: for he is a special vessel for me, to give to the Gentiles and kings and to the children of Israel the knowledge of my name:

And now I am here to be judged because of the hope given by God's word to our fathers;

But we have this wealth in vessels of earth, so that it may be seen that the power comes not from us but from God; Troubles are round us on every side, but we are not shut in; things are hard for us, but we see a way out of them; We are cruelly attacked, but not without hope; we are made low, but we are not without help;read more.
In our bodies there is ever the mark of the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be seen in our bodies. For, while living, we are still being given up to death because of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be seen in our flesh, though it is under the power of death. So then, death is working in us, but life in you.

And because the revelations were so very great, in order that I might not be overmuch lifted up, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, one sent from Satan to give me pain.

But for this reason I was given mercy, so that in me, the chief of sinners, Jesus Christ might make clear all his mercy, as an example to those who in the future would have faith in him to eternal life.

For God is my witness, whose servant I am in spirit in the good news of his Son, that you are at all times in my memory and in my prayers,

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends words of love to the twelve tribes of the Jews living in all parts of the earth.

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, an Apostle by the selection of God, given authority as a preacher of the good news,

The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him so that his servants might have knowledge of the things which will quickly take place: and he sent and made it clear by his angel to his servant John;

Of which I was made a preacher, through that grace of God which was given to me in the measure of the working of his power.

If you keep yourselves safely based in the faith, not moved from the hope of the good news which came to you, and which was given to every living being under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

So that I may be kept safe from those in Judaea who have not put themselves under the rule of God, and that the help which I am taking for Jerusalem may be pleasing to the saints;

It is my desire to say a good word for Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae:

Now I make my request to you, my brothers, for you have knowledge that the house of Stephanas is the first-fruits of Achaia, and that they have made themselves the servants of the saints,

But there is no need for me to say anything in my letter about the giving to the saints:

But so that you may have knowledge of my business, and how I am, Tychicus, the well-loved brother and tested servant in the Lord, will give you news of all things:

As it was given to you by Epaphras, our well-loved helper, who is a true servant of Christ for us,

Who has made us able to be servants of a new agreement; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter gives death, but the Spirit gives life.

For this reason, because we have been made servants of this new order, through the mercy given to us, we are strong:

And the Apostles sent for all the disciples and said, It is not right for us to give up preaching the word of God in order to make distribution of food. Take then from among you seven men of good name, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, to whom we may give control of this business. Then we will give all our time to prayer and the teaching of the word.

But all things are of God, who has made us at peace with himself through Christ, and has given to us the work of making peace;

To take that position as a servant and Apostle, from which Judas by his sin was shut out, so that he might go to his place.

(Because he who was working in Peter as the Apostle of the circumcision was working no less in me among the Gentiles);

To be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, doing the work of a priest in the good news of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles might be pleasing to God, being made holy by the Holy Spirit.

For this reason, of the men who have been with us all the time, while the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

Take then from among you seven men of good name, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, to whom we may give control of this business.

The Bishop, then, is to be a man of good name, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, serious-minded, having respect for order, opening his house freely to guests, a ready teacher; Not quickly moved to wrath or blows, but gentle; no fighter, no lover of money; Ruling his house well, having his children under control with all serious behaviour;read more.
(For if a man has not the art of ruling his house, how will he take care of the church of God?) Not one newly taken into the church, for fear that, through his high opinion of himself, he may come into the same sin as the Evil One. And he is to have a good name among those outside the church, so that nothing may be said against him and he may not be taken by the designs of the Evil One.

For it is necessary for a Bishop to be a man of virtue, as God's servant; not pushing himself forward, not quickly moved to wrath or blows, not desiring profit for himself; But opening his house freely to guests; a lover of what is good, serious-minded, upright, holy, self-controlled; Keeping to the true word of the teaching, so that he may be able to give comfort by right teaching and overcome the arguments of the doubters.

Deacons, in the same way, are to be serious in their behaviour, not false in word, not given to taking much wine or greatly desiring the wealth of this world; Keeping the secret of the faith in a heart free from sin. And let these first be put to the test; then let them become Deacons if there is nothing against them.read more.
Women are to be serious in behaviour, saying no evil of others, controlling themselves, true in all things. Let Deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their houses well. For those who have done good work as Deacons get for themselves a good position and become free from fear in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

But you, O man of God, keep yourself from these things, and go after righteousness, religion, faith, love, a quiet mind, gentle behaviour.