For this reason I [Apostle Paul] left you [Titus] in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you-if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a elder [bishop i.e. leader] must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self–willed, not quick–tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self–controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

With the rise of wilful disobedience to God, Church discipline has become ever so important. In the west, self–expression precedes Godly conduct, and selfish ambition outweighs the needs of all others. Paul  sends Titus these instructions on how to set a church right: and it commences with leaders with a right relation with God, indeed blameless, with a right relation with a spouse (of the opposite sex, a wife), and evidence of a right way to lead a household. For how can a man lead a church if he cannot lead is own household. Fundamentally a leader needs to have iron–clad self control: for which Paul offers a comprehensive check list. His leadership must be based on sound doctrine for without it one cannot exhort (encourage) or convict those who seek to derail the righteousness of God.

For believers who are not church leaders, the list of essential characteristics of a leader is for all believers to strive towards: they are at minimum what a born–again believer is 'running toward': evidence of sanctification and of offering ones–self as a living sacrifice to Christ Jesus.