Grab your Bibles, please, and open to Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1. As you are doing that, I want to start this morning by asking you a question. So while you're turning to Titus chapter 1, if you got a Bible from an usher, that's page 1100, Titus chapter 1. So as you're doing that, as you're turning there, I want to get your mind focused on this thought. What kind of things cause you concern? What kind of things maybe keep you up at night? Maybe as you look out at the world and you see a world that is fractured, full of injustice and natural disasters and wars, maybe that's your concern. Maybe you look out at our country and you see fighting and you see suspicion and disagreement. Maybe it's that. Maybe it's someone in your family or your friends who's going through a hard time. Maybe it's your job, or maybe your school, maybe some friends, or a parent, your child. Maybe it's your lack of knowledge of the Bible. Maybe it's your lack of application of your knowledge of the Bible. Maybe it's lost people. You look out at your family and your friends, and you know so many of them are lost. And you're thinking, God, save them. What is it? Maybe it's lack of money in your bank account. Maybe you see good causes, and you're going, God, why aren't those funded more? What is it? What is it that concerns you? As I look out at the Christian world that we get to be a part of here in America in the 21st century, I think one of the things that concerns me most is the issue of leadership. And that's what we've been seeing in Titus chapter 1. And when it comes to leadership, your life, the goodness or the difficulties in your life, if you begin to think about it and try to pinpoint where those good things or where those difficulties are coming from, More often than not, your blessing and your difficulties come from the leadership that you've put yourself under. And when it comes to church, this is a big deal, church leadership. Because in the church today, if you have a personality, if you're funny, if you've got some gift, you've got a manicured look, you're engaging, if you can hold an audience, then you're automatically given leadership in the church. The problem with that is the Bible doesn't look at any of those things and say, this is what marks a leader. You know what? The bottom line for a leader in the Bible is character. It's maturity. It's that character and maturity that creates a sense of safety, creates a sense of, OK, I'm OK here, and I'm going to be protected here because there's character that's guiding the leaders that I'm allowing to lead my life. And while that's true at your jobs, and that's true maybe at your school, that is so incredibly true in a church. And that's the idea that's driving what Paul writes in Titus chapter 1. That there is this sense that Titus needs, he's gonna go out to all of these churches and he needs discernment to determine, okay, who are the people, who are the men in these churches that should be leaders here and who are the men that shouldn't be? So he's gotta go out into his world on the island of Crete and determine who are the good leaders here. And that's why this text is in the Bible for you and me. Because you need to know who are good leaders, who are the kinds of leaders that I should allow to lead my life, that maybe I should pattern my life after. And who are those that I should steer far away from and never let have any input into my life? If you're not there already, Titus chapter one, verse five is where we're going to start today. So what I want to do is I want you to stand if you are able for the reading of God's word, and then we're going to jump into what the Lord of the church, what Jesus himself says about criteria for leadership in his body, the church. So Titus chapter one, starting in verse five. God says, this is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained in order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer is God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain. but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined." We'll stop right there, you may be seated. So the point here is that regardless of how a man feels, or what he knows, or how much he knows, or what he wants, if his life does not meet these criteria, there's a lot of ministry out there that he can do, but he cannot be a leader, a pastor, an elder. in a local church. Notice again, verse six and verse seven, there's this four word phrase. four word phrase, not forward phrase, four word phrase that is repeated twice. Notice, he must be above reproach. This above reproach is the overarching theme. It is the big idea that his life must be above reproach. And so far we saw that in verse six, this means that church leaders must have a good reputation. They must have a character that if there are any charges against them, those charges against their character don't stick. And what that means is they must be loyal to their wives. They must have a godly influence on their home as they seek to lead their homes spiritually. In short, they must have lives that the other people in the church should follow, would do well to follow. His life demonstrates that Jesus is alive, that this is just something he's talking about, but that Jesus is actually alive and actually changing his life. And notice those words again in verses six and seven, those words must be. These are fixed rules. These carry the weight of divine command. So any church that knowingly puts anyone in leadership who does not meet these qualifications, anybody who puts a man in leadership in a church who cannot check these off as a criteria for leadership, that group of people are in sin. People want to negotiate these criteria. They want to look the other way. They want to explain them away That's first century not 21st century. I mean we've done research We've done evaluation of the top leaders in the world and like this is what's most important No, this is God's Word Which means this is what's most important That these criteria never cease to apply. They stand for all church leaders for all time. And just like we come under the authority of the Bible and we say, OK, the Bible determines everything about who will be leaders here at Redeemer. The Bible also determines what those leaders are supposed to do. So I want you to see this in three words. that are in verses five and seven. These three words define here's what a church leader is supposed to do. Here's what God himself charges those who lead in a church to do. The first verse five is the word elder. That word comes out of the Jewish synagogue. It is the the leaders of the synagogue. And since the first Christians came out of the Jewish synagogue, they took this aspect of the synagogue and put it into the first churches that were organized. An elder refers to someone who is older. They're the mature, they're the most biblically knowledgeable men. They're also known in the Old Testament as rulers or leaders. This is a council of elders, this was a group of men who led the people, they decided disagreements, they organized the synagogue, they made decisions for the community based on the Old Testament. So when the word is used in the New Testament, as they take that word and apply it to the New Testament, and you follow that word in the New Testament, you see the context of the word, the use of this word, is men who are making decisions, who are leading, who are ruling, and even teaching. So both elder, and then this next word in verse seven, overseer, they refer to the same office. These are not two different offices. Paul uses this word synonymously in verses five and seven, and I want to show you how. Verse five, we just read it. He says, hey Titus, appoint elders in all the churches. Verse six, he establishes the criteria for family leadership and says, this is what an elder's family must look like. Then, verse 7, notice the first word in verse 7 is the word for. It's a continuation of verse 6. There were no verses when Paul wrote this. He wasn't writing 7 and then continuing and then writing 8 and continuing. He wasn't putting periods in there. So this was one sentence between 6 and 7. And what it is saying that here's this elder, here's what his family life is supposed to be since an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He's using the same word elder and overseer synonymously. But that's because if an elder is to be mature, if it speaks to the dignity of the office, overseer speaks to the function of the office. So what are they supposed to do? What does this concept of overseeing mean? Well, it's kind of what I'm doing right now, right? I'm standing here and I'm looking out over everybody. And that's the idea is that an overseer is to see, to watch, to examine the people and the mission and the ministries and the influences that are going on in the church. They're to look for weaknesses and strengths. They're to look for threats and they're to look for positives and who needs help and who's hurting. They're to look over everything. Is there any false teacher in here? Like they're constantly looking to care and to protect. They're making sure the church is on the right track. They're managing the affairs of the church. They watch over it for protection and care. So now an elder and an overseer must be, verse 7, it says, they're above reproach, notice, as God's steward. So since he's God's steward, he must be above reproach. So this third idea is that church leaders are stewards. Well, what does that mean? I don't know about you, I don't often use that word. When we think of stewardship, we automatically think in the church about what? money, right? But that is just a small sliver of what it means to be a steward. The word steward would translate into our day as a supervisor or a manager, that's what it means. So the idea here is that his commitment to Jesus on his kids, his management of his family is to be blameless notice because he is to be a manager in God's family. So like we saw last week, first Timothy three, five, he's to direct his own house well, because he's going to be given direction by God over God's house. This is what it means to be a steward, he's a servant. So what would happen in the ancient world is that someone with a lot of money, someone with a lot of possessions, he would even have servants at the time and he would take one of those servants and say, you are gonna be the steward. And the steward was put in charge of his whole house to manage it for the good of his master. He was held responsible for the wellbeing of everything in the house, all the people, the daily operations, the business, the resources, all of it was under his care. And here's the thing, the master of the house didn't say, does anyone want to be the steward? And the first one who raised their hand got it. No, the master looked out over his servants and said, that's the one I want to be my steward. So the master places this responsibility on him. He doesn't take it for himself. And his only requirement as a steward, the highest obligation that he had was to be faithful to his master's wishes. This is Joseph, if you're familiar with the story of Joseph in the Old Testament, Genesis 39, four says of him that Potiphar, quote, made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. So that's what a steward is. He is working on behalf of somebody else, managing his assets, his resources for the good of that master. So to summarize this criteria, church leaders are to exemplify point number one, a responsible life. A responsible life. The idea is that they're given a God-given task, God-given job description, and they are responsible for fulfilling that job description. And notice verse 7. He is called God's steward. Which means that ultimately, he is appointed by God, he belongs to God because God is his master. He doesn't belong to a church or to a denomination or a network, he belongs to God. And then second, this also means that the church does not belong to the church leaders. They are stewards, they are managers of a house that belongs to God. which means the people, they manage the people, they manage on God's behalf, for God's glory, as a fellow servant with everybody else. This is what Paul called himself, 1 Corinthians 4, 1 and 2. This is how he understood himself. He says there, quote, this is how one should regard us. So as you think about the apostles, these super church leaders, he says, this is how you should think about us, quote, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. So he saw himself, which means that all church leaders since him should see themselves as servant managers. Servant leaders who serve the Lord and serve all the other people in the house. Managing servants. And then he continues, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. That's the goal for church leaders. It is not, as I've said before in this series, it's not being creative, it's not being innovative, The goal of church ministry, the goal of all church leaders is to look at what is in the text in black and white and to do exactly what it says and no more. That's it. And even when we do that, Jesus says, you will be an unworthy slave because you've only done what you were told to do. Now listen, you might be thinking as you look at that, God's steward, you might be thinking, well, that just describes church leaders, but it doesn't. It is a description for all Christians. This is what you are as a Christian. If you are a Christian, that's what you are. Actually, if you are a human, that's what you are. You are a steward. And the reason is, is because according to the Bible, you and I do not own anything. God created all things, which means that God owns everything. It's all his. And as you think about that in general, that's great. But I want you to think about that when it comes to your possessions, everything that you have. None of it belongs to you. None of it. You don't own anything. I don't own anything. We are all stewards of what God has given us. First Peter 4.10, as each of us has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. So God has given us all kinds of grace, grace in salvation, grace in ministry, just grace, which is the good things that are in our lives. And every single one of us, therefore, is not an owner. We are, it says there, to be good stewards of what he's given us. Genesis one, this is why we were created. We are created. He says, you are, I'm going to create you in my image and then I'm going to unleash you on this planet to care for it, to manage it, to be good managers. in fact, hearing well done. When we think about standing before God, when we enter heaven and thinking, we just want to hear well done, good and faithful servant. When Jesus says that, it's in the context of a parable where he's talking about management stewardship. And he talks about two good managers who managed their master's wealth well. And they talk about one bad manager who didn't manage it well, but it says there of this man, he entrusted his property to them. That's what God has done with everything you and I have. He has entrusted His property to us. And that's not just your stuff. That's your wife. That's your kids. That's your grandkids. He has entrusted them. That's the people at your job. That's the people in your school, your friends, the people you interact with. That is a stewardship from Him to you. Is this how you see yourself as a Christian? I'm not an owner of anything. I'm a manager, I'm a steward. As we think about that and meditate on that for a minute, He gave us this planet. to make the most of it. He gave us our bodies to take care of them, with food and rest and recreation and exercise that we can serve him and serve others as best as we can. He's given us salvation, not just to save us, but to change us. And then to take that truth and share it with other people, that is a grace gift that he says, hey, manage this well. He's given you and I time every day, so this stewardship idea includes time management. He's given us our talents, our passions, our abilities, our minds, our skills, our knowledge, so that stewardship includes maximizing all of that. He's given us our treasures, our resources, our homes, our jobs, our finances, so this stewardship idea includes money management, resource management, allocating it to where it could best advance the gospel. He's given us our tribe, our family, our friends, our church, our larger community, so that stewardship includes loving and serving all the people that we get to know and interact with. Again, as you think about that, we don't own anything. We are managers of everything. So how are you doing seeing yourself as a manager? How are you doing it and embracing this idea that I don't own anything, that I'm simply a steward of what God's given me? My phone belongs to Him. My home belongs to Him. My kids belong to Him. My pencil at school, that belongs to Him. It all belongs to Him. There's nothing that God does not own. Well, this makes sense. This idea of stewardship makes sense to us if we've ever used a babysitter, right? When you used a babysitter, you placed your kids and probably your home into the care of someone else, right? You left them instructions, and with those instructions there was an expectation that they would fulfill those instructions, right? That they would do what you asked them to do. And then when you got home, you referenced two things, right? The welfare of your kids in your home. Is everything burned down? Is everything okay? Looks fine, number one. And number two, did you what? Did you do what I asked them to do? Did they eat at this time? Did they go to bed at this time? Did you follow the instructions? If some of you are managers for a business, if you're a supervisor and you have a boss above you, that's the job, right? You are accountable to the owner for managing his store, managing his business. Well, that's the same idea here. So as you take that mental inventory of your life, There's not one thing that God didn't give you. And there's not one thing that he's not expecting you to manage well. And he's also going to ask you, how well did you manage these things for him? And what you might be like, Oh, pastor, I'm saved. I'm going to heaven. Why don't I even need to worry about this for, I'm going to get in. And if I just, if I just skate in with a smell of sulfur on me, like at least I'm in, you know, I don't need to worry about all this stuff. Listen, Jesus talked more about stewardship. One author I read said he talked one sixth of everything he taught on was stewardship, this management of God's resources. And he said, and when you read these things, when you read what Jesus said about stewardship, it is often the case that how well we manage God's stuff shows what we really think about God. And actually, whether or not a person is saved or not, it seems that Jesus is saying how we manage all of the gifts that God has given us shows, does all of this stuff exist for me because I'm the owner? Because really all of life revolves around me? Or really is it that all of this stuff belongs to the Lord and I'm seeking to use it to maximize what matters most to Him? We'll take a look back at verse seven. Paul continues this criteria for church leaders by now focusing on the leader's personal life. Verse seven, an overseer is God's steward must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain. Verse 7 begins this 11 bullet point list that must mark the personal character of church leaders. The first five are the vices to be avoided, the disqualifiers, the ones that if this is a regular part of a leader's life, he should be removed from leadership. This kind of person described here is to be eliminated from consideration if they're not a church leader and removed from being a leader if they are currently one. Why? Because this would ruin their public reputation. You cannot be these five things and at the same time, verse seven, be above reproach. Because these things coming out of the life of a leader discredits Christ, disqualifies him, ruins the witness of the gospel. All of this, however, in verse seven, can be fixed. As we broaden this out to all Christians, all of this can be fixed in a person's life. So if I'm reading this today, as we go through each one, and I start talking about one, and you're like, is it getting hot in here? You know, you do this and all the steam comes out. You know, if that's you, just know that this is evidence of God's grace that you're here right now. And the goal is that as you hear this, you go, God, thank you for exposing this in my heart. Please help me grow in this area. These are areas where, where someone can grow into leadership when it comes to ridding these things, severely dealing with these things in a person's life. So in summary, a church leader and really a Christian must demonstrate point number two, a repentant life. A repentant life. Again, no one is sinless. This is not about sinlessness. This is about character. The issue here now as we enter the last part of verse seven is no longer he can't manage the church if he can't manage his family. Now it's transitioned to the idea that he can't manage the church if he can't manage himself. It says before, what must mark the life of a church leader must be what all of us as Christians should strive for. So let's take a look at each one of these. First, a repentant life is not marked by being arrogant, arrogant. This word comes from two words that are smashed together that mean to please oneself. And some really smart linguist people say that actually this word means to be pleased with oneself. So it's a selfishness, a self-focus that makes him inflexible, obstinate in his opinions, self-important, stubborn, even indifferent to the cares and feelings of other people. He can't be trusted to have God's will or others good in mind because he's not a servant, he's more of a master. And whether it's the church or whether just life in general, those things exist for him. He doesn't see that he exists, that all of his talents, all the good that God has given actually exists for the good of other people. Second, a repentant life is not marked by being quick-tempered. Quick-tempered. This doesn't mean a church leader can never get mad. It means anger cannot be something that he is prone to. He doesn't have a short fuse. That in his life, he's not a peacemaker, he's a peacebreaker. He's a hothead. He regularly disrupts the peace that is to mark God's family. So this doesn't, again, doesn't refer to occasional outbursts of anger. As bad as that is, this word speaks of an inclination, a quickness, an ease of provoking anger in a person's heart. So instead of being a tyrant, he is to be humble, patient, gentle, and peaceable. Third, a repentant life is not marked by being a drunkard. A drunkard. This is another word that has two words smashed together. The word wine and the word beside. Wine beside. The idea there is that he's got alcohol or drugs next to him at all times. And when he has those things next to him, they stay next to him too long. You know, Ephesians 5.18, the control of his life, the control of all of our lives is to belong to the spirit, not to substances. Fourth, a repentant life is not marked by being violent. No Christian, and especially no church leader, can be marked by being aggressive, by seeking to settle differences using their fists. He can't be ready at all times to fight with those who disagree with him, either physically or even verbally, psychologically. That is far from him. In fact, it is 2 Timothy 2, 24 and 25 that guide his life where it says, the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome. but kind to everyone, teachable, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. That when conflict hits his life, what comes out of his life is self-control, peace, reasonableness. Fifth, a repentant life will not be marked by being greedy for gain. Greedy for gain. This refers to someone who bends the rules and manipulates the truth, who will do whatever they can, moral or not, to get other people's money. So Titus is going into these churches, and he's not looking for leaders who are using the ministry for money, although that would apply here. But he's going into these churches going, who are the honest businessmen here? Who are the honest people in this church that are making an honest wage, that are doing honest work? Those are the men, he says, that should be lifted. They should not be shysters. You know what a shyster is? A shyster is somebody who manipulates people to get their money. He says, those should not be the church leaders. Sadly, we ignore this today in Christianity. Sadly, that love of money has become a ministry philosophy for people. It has become baptized as a ministry. This is nothing, the first Timothy chapter five says there is nothing wrong with making money from doing the ministry. The issue is, is making God, making money the God of a person's ministry. That, he says, the love of money, that should be completely out of the hearts of a leader. So the question then as we come to the end of those five is, would anyone like to be led by a leader who's marked by maybe just one of these? Nobody's perfect, so I mean, it's fine that he's drunkard. It's fine. You know, everyone's got their vice, you know. Or maybe being led by someone that's like, you know, it's just fine that he uses me for my money. I'm good with that. Really no big deal. Listen, no Christian should have any of this in their lives. And no church leader can have any of this in their lives or they should resign immediately. In fact, if your life is regularly spewing out this toxic sludge, you shouldn't lead a cheese tasting club. Right? You should not be the lead dishwasher, you should not be the lead dog catcher, let alone lead anything in the church. Right? Not at all. We can't. So let's take a look at verse 8. I was about to go on a tangent. No, come back. Paul finishes off these personal criteria for church leadership in verse 8. They must be, he says, hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. It's not that church leaders can't be, well, as long as you're not a criminal, you can be a church leader. That's not what Paul is saying here. In verse seven, he has five vices for church leaders to avoid, but in verse eight, there are six virtues that church leaders must have in their life and seek to cultivate more and more in their lives. Again, like everything we've been saying, these mark him as an example, as a godly, Christ-like example for the people that he gets to lead, but it also, is a list that all of us as Christians should strive for. So the way that I've kind of summarized it for us, a church leader and really all Christians must demonstrate point number three, a redeemed life, a redeemed life. In other words, this list is the result of God's grace in your life. This list is to mark our lives as God's spirit is causing these things to come out of our lives as we're following his leadership in our lives. Again, no one's going to be perfect at any of these, but all of these must be present. for a church leader, and all of them, we should be striving to have them present in our lives. So first, let's take a look at each of them. A redeemed life will be a life that's hospitable. Here's a third word where it's, here's two words smashed together, and those two words are love and strangers. At a time in our world when individuality and privacy are prized and even idolized, the Christians, we are meant to love community. We're meant to love people. So this is a person that makes themselves available to know and love and serve other people. 1 Peter 4, 9 challenges all Christians to be hospitable, not just leaders. So as Christians, we can't be recluse hermits, loners who want nothing to do with other people. We should love people. We should love being around people. If you're like, I'm an introvert and that's hard, you should seek to push through that with prayer. Say, God, give me more love for people. Why? Because people are what God loves most. in this world. God give me your heart of love for people and that would come out in a sense of being hospitable. Number two, a redeemed life will be seen in a Christian being a lover of good. Lover of good, that sounds so general. What does that mean? Well good, this concept of good means anything that matches the attitudes and actions of God's character. Anything that matches the attitudes and actions that are found in his word. So we love the good. A person loves, is a lover of good when they obey the Bible, when they do what it says. We love good when we love things that are in line with God's word, that are in line with his character. We love good when we help the good flourish in the lives of others, when we help it flourish in our families, in our friends, in our community, in our world. And loving the good also means we're pained when we see things in our lives, our families, in our nation, that is not in line with God's word. Third, a redeemed life will be a life that's self-controlled. Self-controlled. This refers to controlling one's mind and one's emotions. so that whatever situation, whatever crisis hits, whether natural disaster, personal conflict, whatever it is, he can be rational, cool-headed, attentive, and thoughtful. Whatever's happening around him, whatever conflict's going on, he's able to focus, stay on mission, stay on point. That's what it means to be self-controlled. His mind and emotions are in control. Number four, a redeemed life will be a life that's upright. It's upright. I don't know about you, I don't use that word all the time, but what does upright mean? That word in the Bible means that he is not a lawbreaker. That he follows God's laws, he follows society's laws, he acts honestly, he acts fairly, he does right according to the Word of God. Word of God is the standard and he's seeking to organize his life according to the Word of God. Fifth, a redeemed life will be a life that's holy. The idea of holiness is two concepts, separation from sin and devotion to Christ. That I want to get rid of anything in my life that takes me out of fellowship with Christ. I want to continue to pull stuff into my life where I'm knowing more and more his goodness and his grace. So this is seeking to please God in any area of life. This is not a person who's afraid of being a Jesus freak. This is a person that says, I want to be as close to Jesus as I possibly can. I want to be zealous about him, devout, committed, all in. He's not afraid of those things. He embraces those things and says, Jesus, give me more of that. That's what it means to be holy. And finally, number six, a redeemed life will be a life that's disciplined. Disciplined. If number three was about controlling our minds and emotions, number six is about having power over our bodies and our bodily appetites. This word is used in 1 Corinthians 9.25 for all Christians, that Paul compares us to athletes who train our bodies for maximum performance. And so he's saying that we're to discipline our bodies, this idea of discipline here. disciplining our bodies, disciplining ourselves for maximum performance of God's will in our lives. This is actually, in Galatians 5.23, is one of the fruit of the Spirit, where this is what the Spirit does in our lives. As He's working in our lives, as we're following His leadership, He's helping us to become more and more in control of our bodies. And really, this is true of all 11 of these things, that He is the one that's causing this in our lives. So if these mark your life, you're the kind of leader other people want to follow. Even if you are leading a cheese tasting club, the people in that club are like, I love coming here because that leader cares about me, that leader is solid. When people use that word solid, what we're talking about is what they mean. They create an atmosphere, whatever it is, of just safety, security, and even goodness because of the leadership that their lives has promoted and the character that their lives are protecting. So you're the kind of Christian who will sustain a good reputation over time if you see these things. You're the kind of leader others will pattern their lives after regardless of what it is that you're actually leading. The people that you're leading go, yes, that's good. So may God give us more leaders like this. May God protect all of us from leaders who cannot honestly look at this list and be judged and cannot pass a judgment based on this list. And so if you're sitting there now going, wow, I aspire to church leadership, but I see some things in my life that need to change. Or if you're sitting there going, I have no desire for church leadership, but I still see some things in my life that I'd like to change. Let me just leave you with this thought. All 11 of this list that we just read, doesn't that describe the Savior? I mean, he was God's steward, right? He managed all that God had. All that he had, God gave him and he managed it. And in fact, to this day, right now, Colossians 1 17 says, he is holding all things together. Every molecule, every atom, he is holding them together and managing them according to the will of God. He is the perfect steward. He oversees the church. He is the great overseer, protecting, caring, leading, and teaching his body. He's not arrogant. He's not angry. He's not addicted to anything. He was never violent. He's never greeting for money. He's perfectly hospitable, right? He welcomes anybody and everybody who comes to him by faith. He loves all that is good. He loves all that is in accordance with God's character and God's word. There is a violent reaction to anything in him that was against God's character and God's word. He's self-controlled in his mind and emotions. He was disciplined in his body. If you think about it, he was sinlessly upright. He perfectly kept God's law. He was flawlessly holy, completely and utterly devoted to God. So yes, Jesus is our example of good leadership. But do not forget, Christian, that when you, if you have given your life to Christ, if you have turned from your sin and your rebellion and you've submitted to Him as your King, you're trusting in Him to save you, then remember that at that moment, you were placed into Christ, so that you are now in Christ, which means, number one, that every blessing that He deserves, you get. Everything that he deserves for his perfect life, his perfect sinless relationship with God is yours by grace. And then remember, number two, Christian, that because you are in Christ, you are being made more and more like Christ. That the Spirit, the Holy Spirit in your life that is chiseling you into an image that looks less and less like you, and more and more like Jesus. So what does that mean for us today? Yes, he's the source, he's the example, but he's the motivator. He's the giver of the grace that causes us to begin to look like what we see in this passage. That happens as we follow the leadership of God's word in our lives, we obey what it says, as we have these impulses to do right, we go, yes, I'm gonna follow the spirit on this. Yes, it means to seek him and to know him and love him and serve him. And as we do that, As His grace is at work in our lives, He changes us and He makes us leaders that can be described by Titus chapter 1 verses 7 and 8. So as we read this passage, as we think through this passage, let's go to Him in any area that you get to lead. Let's go to Him to be the leaders that He wants us to be.