The office of elder is a noble task for men to perform within the church and it is something good for men to work towards. For a man to be qualified to be an elder means he has the godly qualities needed to lead God’s church. All of us should aspire and work towards developing these kinds of godly qualities in our lives.

An elder should be above reproach. This is not about being sinless because none of us can be without sin in this life. He must have a morally upright character that generally no-one would have something bad to hold against him.
He must be the husband of one wife. This means he must be faithful in his marriage. It is also likely that Paul expected elders to be married because later we see they need to prove their leadership in leading their home.
An elder must be sober-minded, not irrational or guilty of snap judgements. He should be emotionally and mentally stable.
He should be self-controlled and prudent. This is similar to the previous character quality and expects that he makes good, objective, sound judgements when decisions need to be made.
An elder should be respectable and of good behaviour, especially towards others in the church and community.
He must be hospitable, a people person, who helps others, meets with others and has them in his home and looks after them.
An elder must be able to teach God’s word soundly and accurately. Not every elder must have the gift of teaching or even need to preach, but they must be well-grounded in Biblical doctrine and be able to lead the church towards truth and away from error.
He must not drink so much that he loses the self-control required above. This is not a requirement that he not drink at all, just that alcohol never has an influence over him.
An elder must not be a man of violence, anger and quarrelling. He must be gentle in his demeanour towards others.
He must not be greedy and driven to acquire wealth. The office of elder is not a position for accumulating wealth. A man driven by money is likely to take advantage of the congregation. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim 6:10).
An elder must show his leadership in managing his own household well. He must lead his wife and children in godliness. The home is the proving ground of his leadership ability and where he should already exhibit all of the above qualities. If he cannot manage his home well, how can he hope to manage God’s church?
He must not be a recent convert. He must be well-grounded in biblical truth and that cannot happen overnight. An elder must show spiritual depth and godly character that must be proved over a reasonable period of time. Recent converts raised in profile within the church too quickly are prone to issues of pride and an easy target for the devil.
Finally, an elder must have a good testimony to unbelievers. If he has a bad reputation he will also be prone to the snares of the devil.

Spiritual ambition is good. While it is God who works in us to make us more like Christ, we have an active role in submitting to His working in our lives. What character quality listed above do you need to work on in your life?