Titus 1:8
“But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Positively, the overseer must love hospitality and what is good, and be self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.
What Does Titus 1:8 Mean?
Having listed what an elder must not be, Paul turns to what he must be. He is to love hospitality, opening his home to strangers and travelers, and to love what is good, drawn toward goodness in people and things. Then come four marks of inner character: sensible, just, holy, and self-mastered.
These virtues move outward and inward at once. Hospitality and love of good show how he treats others; soberness, justice, holiness, and self-control show the ordered life beneath. Together they paint a leader who is welcoming, fair, devoted to God, and in command of his own desires. For the reader, this is a portrait of Christlike maturity. Such qualities are not reserved for officeholders alone but describe the kind of person the gospel forms in everyone who follows Jesus.
In the Original Language
philoxenos (φιλόξενος), "lover of hospitality" — literally a friend to strangers, eager to welcome them.