Daily devotion – Together in ministry!
1 Timothy 3:1-13
“This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work…” – 1 Timothy 3:1
Paul’s words to young Timothy lay out God’s blueprint for spiritual leadership in the Church. These aren’t mere preferences or cultural guidelines; they are divinely inspired qualifications for those who are to lead God’s people. But the heart of the passage beats far beyond just qualifications for elders and deacons—it reveals God’s design for the family and how it relates to the Church.
Paul emphasizes that a bishop or overseer must be blameless, a one-woman man, temperate, sober-minded, hospitable, and able to teach. But more than just public gifting, Paul puts a heavy weight on private faithfulness—especially in the home. Verse 4 highlights that a man must rule his own house well, with children in submission, because how can he care for God’s Church if his home is in disorder?
And it’s not just the men—wives are included too (v.11). They must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, and faithful in all things. Leadership in God’s house is not a solo act. It’s a team effort—husband and wife, one in heart and spirit, serving the Lord together.
Sadly, today, marriage is often treated like a business contract—“his money, her money,” “his ministry, her schedule.” But that is not the biblical picture. God’s call to serve Him is a family call. We see it with Noah and his household entering the ark, Abraham and Sarah stepping out by faith, and even Paul pointing to Timothy’s spiritual heritage through his mother and grandmother.
When God places His hand on a man for ministry, it is not a call for isolation but for unity—his wife standing alongside him, their children learning to honour Christ from the pattern of their home. The Church is God’s family, and leaders in the Church must model what that family should look like.
Too often, I see couples all fired up before marriage about both being ‘on fire’ for the Lord and working together in God’s kingdom. But after the ‘honeymoon’ period comes to an end, the wedding day is over, all too often comes the parting of ways in serving the Lord. Was someone playing a part prior to the wedding day just to get the relationship over the line? Because God calling on the man means there is an accompanying connection with their wife and their children. Where is your marriage relationship in this case?
The Church is God’s family, and God calls faithful men, and their wives collectively into the ministry. My old Pastor, Thom Whitaker told me of a couple who had come to him seeking marriage. But as Pastor Whitaker met with this couple he could see the man was ‘full on’ in his passion to serve Christ. His fiancé at the time was noticeably nowhere near as driven.
Pastor Whitaker counselled this couple not to marry, even though they were both believers. For he knew that their paring together was not going to work in the kingdom of God.
If you are both believers, when God moves upon your husband, calls him, God’s desire is that you accompany him on the path of ministry together. There is nothing godly about a Christian couple who separately go about their business in the body of Christ. It’s the family serving God collectively, passionately, encouraging each other, supporting each other, working side by side with each other. This is God’s model!
It’s a sobering reminder for couples: are you truly one in your service to God? Or have your spiritual lives drifted into separate lanes? Is your home a place of discipleship, prayer, encouragement, and hospitality?
One wise pastor once said, “The strength of a man’s ministry is revealed in the health of his marriage.” The same can be said of the Church—its strength lies in the families who serve together within it.
Are you serving the Lord together as a couple or family—or separately?
Does your marriage reflect a shared burden for God’s kingdom?
Are you modeling to your children and to others what godly leadership in the home looks like?
Lord, thank You for Your perfect design for family and leadership. Strengthen every marriage in the Church to reflect Your unity, love, and purpose. May we serve You not as individuals alone, but as families fully devoted to Your kingdom. Help us to build homes that honour You and leave a legacy of faith for generations to come. Amen.