1 Timothy 3:1-7 - Qualifications For Overseers

¹ It is a popular saying that "whoever aspires to office is set upon an excellent occupation." ² Well, for the office of a bishop a man must be above reproach; he must be only married once, he must be temperate, master of himself, unruffled, hospitable, a skilled teacher, ³ not a drunkard or violent, but lenient and conciliatory, not a lover of money, ⁴ able to manage his own household properly and keep his children submissive and perfectly respectful ⁵ (if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how is he to look after the church of God?); ⁶ he must not be a new convert, in case he gets conceited and incurs the doom passed on the devil; ⁷ also, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, in case he incurs slander and is trapped by the devil.