Titus 1:6-8 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

The qualification that speaks to me this morning is that of not being “self-willed”. An honest assessment of all of our lives shows that we are all prone to cater to ourselves. Yet, an effective minister will soon realize that for an impactful ministry, he must be willing to set aside his will for the sake of others.

Some might say I’m a schedule Nazi. I’ve set a schedule and reminders for everything – from family alter, to a cat nap at lunch, to reminding the boys to take the trash out at 7:45 every Thursday, and pretty much everything else. But here’s the kicker – I can’t schedule when a couple in my class is going through marriage problems. I can’t schedule when a former addict asks to go out to coffee to talk about his struggles. I can’t schedule when a teen has admitted to or been caught in sin, and his parents ask me to talk to him. That’s not how the ministry works. And as much as we try to organize (set in order), preach, and lead, there will be times where we must set aside our schedule, planner, task list, and plans.

A study of the great men in the Bible (Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Paul, and many others) shows that they allowed their plans and their wills to become secondary to God’s, and to those He had called them to serve. My prayer is that I’d do the same today.