1 Timothy 3 - Summary

Paul provides qualifications for the office of overseer (bishop): blameless, husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or violent but gentle, managing his household well with children in submission, not a recent convert lest he fall into the devil's condemnation. Similarly, deacons must be dignified, not double-tongued or greedy, holding the mystery of faith with clear conscience, first tested then serving; their wives likewise dignified; these things written that Timothy may know how to conduct himself in God's household, the church as pillar and ground of truth.