1 Timothy 3:2

Plain English Version

A church leader has to be this sort of man, – He has to be a really good man, so that nobody can ever say that he does bad things. – He can only have one wife, and he can’t sleep with any other woman, like a husband sleeps with his wife. – He has to have good sense and do things properly. – He can’t be the sort of man that lets himself go and then does wild things. – He has to be friendly to other people, even if he doesn’t know them. – He has to be good at teaching people. –

Cross References

Luke 1:6

Those 2 people, Zekariah and Elizabeth, they were very good people. They did everything in God’s law, and God liked the way they lived.

Luke 2:36

While Joseph and Mary were talking to Simeon, a very old woman came along. Her name was Anna. She saw Jesus, and she thanked God for him. Some of the people there were waiting for God to send somebody to help the Jewish people. Anna told them about Jesus, that he is that special person. Anna’s father was Fanuel, and he belonged to the tribe called Asher. She was 84 years old. A long time before this, Anna was a young woman and she got married. But then after 7 years her husband died. After that, she stayed in God’s ceremony house all the time, telling the people God’s words. She prayed all the time, in the day time and at night, and often she didn’t eat any food because she was praying.

Romans 12:13

If any of God’s people need anything, you have to give them whatever you can. If they are visiting your town, and they need somewhere to stay, let them stay at your place.

Philippians 2:15

Then you will be properly good, so that nobody can blame you for anything. You are God’s kids living among really bad people that always go wrong. So you have to live in a way that is properly good. Then everyone will see that you are properly good. You will be like bright stars in a dark sky.

1 Timothy 3:12

A church helper can only have one wife, and he can’t sleep with any other woman, like a man sleeps with his wife. – He has to be the sort of man that looks after his wife and kids properly, as well as all the people that live in his house.

1 Timothy 3:8

It is the same too for the people that are helpers in the church. – They have to be really good honest people. – They can’t be people that get drunk. – They can’t be greedy, wanting lots of money and things. –

1 Timothy 4:3

They tell people, “You can’t marry anyone. It is wrong.” And they tell people, “There are some sorts of food you can’t eat. You just have to leave it alone.” Those things that they say are not true. God tells us in his book that he made everything good. That means that he made all food good. We believe that word and know it is true, so we don’t have to leave any sort of food alone. Instead, we can just thank him for it and eat it. God’s word says that all food is good, so we pray to him and thank him for it, and then it is all right for us to eat it.

1 Timothy 5:10

She has to be the sort of woman that everybody respects because she always did good things for people. She has to be a woman that brought her kids up properly. She has to be a woman that always gave strangers food and a place to sleep. She has to be a woman that did all sorts of things to help God’s people. She has to be a woman that always helped people in trouble and was always ready to do good things.

1 Timothy 5:22

If ever you need to pick somebody to be a church leader, pick somebody that has been a Christian for a long time, not somebody that is a new Christian. It is like this. If the person you pick starts to go wrong, everyone will blame you as well as blaming that person. So pick somebody that you know is really good, so that you don’t get yourself mixed up with something that is wrong.

1 Timothy 5:9

So you can make up a list. Write down the names of all the widows that the church has to help. But only put a widow on the list if she is over 60 years old, and only if she always stayed with her husband and never went off with another man.

2 Timothy 2:24

And anyone that works for God can’t get into fights, but they have to be good to everybody. So don’t get angry with people that give you trouble. You have to teach people in a good way.

Titus 2:2

You have to teach the older men to control themselves. They have to do good things so that people will respect them. They have to keep on believing in Jesus strongly. They have to love other people. And, if they get trouble, they have to never give up following Jesus.

1 Peter 4:7

You know, God will finish up everything soon. So now you have to think clearly, and be careful about everything you do, so that you can talk to God properly when you pray.

1 Peter 4:9

If there are other Christians that need food or a place to stay, then share your home with them and don’t complain to anyone about it.

1 Peter 5:8

You have to think clearly and watch out for your enemy, the devil. He is the boss over all the bad spirits, and he is going around looking for people to trick. He is like a wild animal that is going around and looking for somebody to kill and eat.