第三章

¹ 「如果有人渴慕監督的職分，他就是愛慕善工。」這話是可信的。 ² 所以作監督的，必須無可指摘，只作一個妻子的丈夫，有節制，自律，莊重，樂意接待客旅，善於教導， ³ 不好酒，不打人，只要溫和，與人無爭，不貪財， ⁴ 好好管理自己的家，使兒女凡事敬重順服。 ⁵ （人若不知道怎樣管理自己的家，怎能照料神的教會呢？） ⁶ 初信主的不可作監督，恐怕他驕傲，就落在魔鬼所受的刑罰裡。 ⁷ 作監督的也必須在教外有好聲譽，免得他被人毀謗，就落在魔鬼的陷阱裡。

默想:

1. 本段經文列出負責教會的屬靈狀況的長老牧者當有的品格條件。慢慢仔細地讀幾遍這段經文，對經文中所提到道德上的要求，我有什麼想法？花多幾分鐘再讀一遍，每讀到一個要求，就求聖靈引導我省察自己的內心，有什麼地方，目前我的舉止與聖經所列有出入？
2. 懇求神來幫助並賜力量給我，在這些事上開始改變，經歷聖靈的塑造，使我的生命彰顯屬靈的生命質素。
3. 為教會的領袖，牧者，事工會成員，小組長等禱告，求主也在他們生命中繼續塑造的工作。

 

禱告與筆錄：

繼續安靜在神面前，與神對話，並聆聽祂對我說的話。將心中的思想（心得），或是與神的禱告，記錄在「靈程筆記簿」上面。

CHAPTER 3

¹Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. ²Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, ³not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. ⁴He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. ⁵(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) ⁶He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. ⁷He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

 

MEDITATION

1. This passage lists some qualifications for church leaders.  Read it over slowly and carefully.  Upon each qualification, pause and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me to examine my heart.  What areas in my life are they different from the list here?
2. Ask God to help and empower me to make the necessary changes so that the transformation may begin in me and that I may display qualities of genuine spiritual life.
3. Pray for the leaders of our church: pastors, ministry committee members, cell leaders, etc.  Pray that their lives may continue to be transformed by God.

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in the 2012 “Spiritual Journal” book.