1 Timothy 3:2c – Temperament 

Now the overseer is to be … temperate…

Summary: As we continue examining Paul’s criteria for an overseer, we discover that there is a method to Paul’s list of things to look for in an overseer.   

The next word in Paul’s job description for an overseer is “temperate.” 

To be more accurate, the English translation in the NIV uses the word “temperate” for the word Paul used, which is “nēpháleos.” “Nēpháleos” is a Greek word that means “sober” in the sense of being circumspect.* However, it can also mean “abstaining from wine,” or at least from its “immoderate use.”†

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1 Timothy 1:13a – A Single Blast of Light

Man looking worried as he enters an office full of people. (Grok)

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man …

Summary: The change in Paul that occurred on the road to Damascus is not all that different than what we commonly call a “wake up call.”  

How does a person go from seeing himself as a virtuous defender of “All That Is Right” one day, and the next, find themselves believing that their whole life has been a horrible mistake?

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Philippians 2:15a – Becoming Nothing

Picture of two miniature people sitting on a keyboard (Pixabay)

[Do everything without grumbling or arguing] so that you may become blameless and pure…

Summary: The road to being Christ-like requires that we travel a path of humility in God’s service.   

It is interesting that Paul seems to summarize Christian living with two simple words. His words suggest that by doing everything without grumbling or arguing, we can become “blameless and pure.” 

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