Titus 1:6, “An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.”

Interesting points:
1. In the previous verse we learned that Paul left Titus in Crete to “straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town…” (house church) on the island of Crete. Starting with this verse and progressing through Verses 9, Paul will list the qualifications for Christian elders, similar to ones in 1 Timothy in 3:1–7.
2. Verse 6 includes three major qualifications:
1) The elder must have exemplary moral character.
2) The elder must be known as "the husband of one wife" (literally translated from Greek as a "one woman man." Although this phrase has produced much controversy through the ages, it simply addresses two issues:
a) At that time, elders would necessarily have to be men as women would not have been accepted as leaders of a local house church in either the prevailing Jewish culture or among the Gentile Christians on Crete.
b) Although an elder did not have to be married, this phrase implies he is committed and faithful to one wife. This requirement says nothing about past marriages, divorce or being widowed. The focus is on the elder's current marital relationship.

3) The children of the elder must not reject God. This does not apply to children who, because of their youth, have not yet developed a well-defined personal faith in Christ. Nor does it apply to those who are old enough to live on their own, outside their parents' control. Simply stated, the elder's children should not have a reputation for wild-partying, disobedience, nor unbelief.

Application.
Brothers, the conduct of our family reveals a lot about us. How we honor our wives by remaining faithful speaks of our ability to love them and remain self-controlled when temptation vies for our attention. And our children -- who watch everything – will choose to follow our example because God’s love overflows from us to them or reject it because our they find us hypocritical, neglectful, or excessively harsh.

Let’s look at the way we treat our wives and children today. May we learn to value and care for them as much as our Lord values them! For those without children or unmarried, let us continue to let God’s love shine through us to our extended families, the family we have in God and the children in our lives!