7.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• The first five qualifications (in 1 Timothy 3:1-7) are closely connected.
• The fifth qualification is that an elder must be respectable (well-ordered).
• God brings order into our lives through his Word and Spirit.
• To know if you have a well-ordered life, you can think about questions such as
  - How do I use my time?
  - How do I take care of my body?
• Put your trust in Jesus Christ at all times.
  - He lived a perfectly ordered life.
  - Then he gave his perfect life to you.
  - Through his Spirit he works in you, to make your life more like his life.
• An elder must be an example of someone whose life is being ordered by the Spirit.

7.2 – 1 Timothy 2:9a (ESV)←⤒🔗

^9. Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control.

7.3 – 1 Timothy 3:2a←⤒🔗

^2. The overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable.

© NET Bible

7.4 The first five qualifications←⤒🔗

The first five qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 are closely connected. Let us quickly remind ourselves of the first four qualifications, and of how they fit together.

Firstly, an elder’s character must be above reproach. There must be nothing in his life that can give him a bad name. This is the first qualification, and it gives us the “big picture” of what an elder must be. If someone asked you, “Please tell me quickly what kind of man an elder must be,” you could simply say, “He must be above reproach.”

The next four qualifications tell us what it means to be above reproach. First of all, it means that you are a one-woman man (second qualification). A man’s marriage and sexual life is a clear sign of his character. Many men (including Christian leaders) fall for Satan’s temptations in this area.  But if a man is not above reproach in this area, he cannot be an elder.

To be above reproach, you need to be temperate (third qualification). A temperate man is a man who thinks clearly and focuses on the right things. His spiritual eyes are healthy.

Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). If an elder looks at life in a temperate way, you will see it in the way he lives. He will have a self-controlled (careful) way of life (fourth qualification).

In this lesson we are looking at the fifth qualification: “respectable.” This qualification is connected to being temperate and being self-controlled. If an elder is temperate (looking at life in the right way) and self-controlled (careful with how he lives), then his life will be respectable.

7.5 What it means to be respectable←⤒🔗

Imagine a dark room at the back of a large house. The room is full of dust and spider webs. There is a bad smell. Would you like to stay in such a room?

Now, imagine that someone comes and cleans up the room. She paints it and puts new glass in the windows. She hangs new curtains and puts new linen on the bed. She even puts a beautiful lamp in the corner. Now the room is warm, light, and beautiful.

That is what God does in our lives, through his Word and his Spirit. Slowly, he takes the dirt and the chaos out of our lives. He brings order and beauty into every part of our lives. He makes us respectable.

In the Bible the word “respectable” means “well-ordered.” A respectable person is an orderly person, both in his mind and in his lifestyle. He is orderly because he lives according to God’s order.

It is pleasant to stay in a room that is clean, fresh, and well-ordered. In the same way, it is pleasant to be with a person whose life shows God’s good order.

7.6 Do you have a well-ordered life?←⤒🔗

Do you have a well-ordered (respectable) life? To help you think about this question, here are some specific questions you can ask yourself:

How do I use my time?←↰⤒🔗

God created time. He made the world in such a way that there is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1). He also commanded us to work six days of the week, and to rest one day (Exodus 20:9-10).

How do you use the time that God has given you? Do you work when it is time to work? Do you rest when it is time to rest? Do you use most of your time for the most important things, and less time for less important things? When people look at your life, can they see that your life and your time belong to God?

How do I use my money?←↰⤒🔗

The ways in which we use our time and our money show what is really important to us. Do you use your money in a careful way, to the glory of God? Or are you always in debt, always buying more than you should, or using your money in selfish ways?

How do I take care of my body?←↰⤒🔗

God made our bodies, and our bodies are temples of his Spirit. This means that we should eat, dress, and take care of our bodies in a respectable way. The word “respectable” is also used in 1 Timothy 2:9, to describe the way in which a woman of God should dress herself. Our bodies and clothes are important to God.

Do you try to eat healthy and to exercise? Do you take care of the way you look and the way you smell? Remember, it must be pleasant for people to be around you!

Do I keep my promises?←↰⤒🔗

Do your actions agree with your words? When you have said that you will do something, can people trust you to do it? When you have said, “I will be there at ten o’clock,” are you there at that time?

When you became a church member, you entered into a covenant with God and his church. You promised to be a faithful member of Christ’s body. Are you serious about that promise? Do you make sure that you are at the worship service every Sunday? Are you there when your brothers and sisters need you?

What goes on in my mind?←↰⤒🔗

Is there order in your thoughts? Are you thinking about things that are good and important? Are you prayerful? Or do you allow your mind to be filled with confusion, worry, bitterness, and selfish desires?

7.7 Jesus Christ, the well-ordered man←⤒🔗

Most of us will say, “In some areas of my life, I am well-ordered. In other areas of my life, I am not.” If this is true of you, you can thank God for the well-ordered areas of your life. That is his work! You can also pray that God will give you wisdom for the other areas of your life.

As long as you live in this world, your life will never be perfectly ordered. Therefore, do not put your trust in yourself and in how “well-ordered” you can be. At all times, put your trust in Jesus Christ.

Christ’s life was always perfectly ordered. He always did the right thing at the right time and in the right way. Then he took your sins on himself, and he gave his perfect life to you! When God looks at you, he sees you in Christ. He sees the perfectly ordered life of Christ.

If you are in Christ, then his Spirit works in you. The Spirit brings order into your everyday life. Through the Spirit’s power, your life can look more and more like the life of Christ.

This work of the Spirit must clearly be seen in an elder’s life. Elders are called to be examples to God’s people (1 Peter 5:3). When someone looks at an elder, he (or she) should say, “That man’s life makes me think of Jesus. I want to have that kind of life too!