1 This is a faithful saying, "If any man is seeking the office of a minister he is aspiring to a noble task."
2 The minister should be a man of blameless character; he should be husband of but one wife; he should live a sober, self-restrained, orderly life; he should be hospitable, skilled in teaching;
3 no drinker or brawler; but forbearing, peaceable, and no money- lover;
4 he should be a man who rules his own household well, and keeps his children ever under control and thoroughly well behaved.
5 For if a man does not know how to rule his own household, how shall he take charge of a church of God?
6 He must not be a recent convert, lest he be blinded with pride, and incur the doom of the devil.
7 He should also have a good reputation among outsiders, lest he fall into reproach, and into a snare of the devil.