The word "conviction" is not actually used in the Bible.  Obviously, it is a word that relates to a person's belief, their principle, their faith, and to being persuaded of vital spiritual truth.  Paul stated in Romans 8:38 and 2 Timothy 1:12,

^{Ro 8:38} For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,

^{2Ti 1:12} For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

Philippians 1:6 declares,

⁶being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ

I have a conviction that is very critical to me personally.  The principle is that I will always teach to persuade.  Obviously, there are areas of Scripture that are more difficult than others and it would be foolish and arrogant on any one's part to not be honest about their lack of understanding on a particular issue.  However, if a pastor is diligent to do the study required to be a good teacher, then they personally need to be convinced of the things that they are actually teaching.  A pastor cannot be convincing until he has conviction.  He cannot persuade until he is persuaded.  He cannot teach something effectively or persuasively if he is not personally committed to the truths that he is actually teaching.  Paul told Timothy that he needed to be "nourished in the words of the faith" because he fully understood that the more a pastor/teacher studies, the more the Word of God will be embedded in his preaching and teaching.  This requires immense discipline - something that the individual does every day.  A good pastor is someone that must be a "self-feeder" and someone who has the personal discipline to grind through some grammatical rock in order to find the treasures that are embedded in the Word.  Some truths in Scripture are self-evident and other truths require a degree of effort to uncover - and a good pastor will take the time to make that effort.

John Stott has stated that the kind of God a pastor believes in determines the kind of sermons that he preaches.  His view of God and his conviction about God's Word determines the effort that he is inclined to give to the ministry and to his pastoral calling.  Every pastor must be a theologian.  There are no exceptions to this.  He must understand doctrine.  He must study doctrine.  Why?  It is because doctrine is the very foundation of what Christians believe.  A man cannot build a Christ honoring ministry without a solid foundation - and doctrine is that foundation.  This is a non-negotiable attribute of pastoral ministry, but one that is very often woefully neglected.  Many pastors have no interest in theology and doctrine.  They just want to preach and so in that process, which on the surface sounds good and acceptable, they fail to properly establish the doctrinal moorings that are essential for sustained growth in the Christian life.  Many men become no more than a visitation pastor rather than a student of God's Word.  Some are more of a church administrator than a teacher - just making sure the church is running smoothly, both financially and organizationally.  Eventually that kind of pastor will harm the church that God has given him to pastor because the church is like a human body.  In order to be healthy, it needs good food - and that is what the pastor does.  He is the feeder.  He is the one that is bringing the Word of God to his people.  You cannot prepare a really good meal in 15 minutes.  It is not possible.  Every pastor MUST have a radical commitment to the Word of God and to Bible study.  A man can become very interesting with his messages, easy to listen to, and incredibly articulate.  Unfortunately, though, he may have an overall non-transforming effect on the people he shepherds.  Pastors are not called to be captivating or to be making suggestions.  They are not to be providing alternatives and options for living the Christian life.  They are to simply declare the Word of God. They are called to clearly communicate the most vital truths that anyone could ever need.

The most telling conviction about a man is what he truly believes about God.  That is the ultimate acid test of ministry - what does a man believe and teach about God.  Everything else will fall into place if he gets that one area of teaching right.  Theology literally means the study of God.  It is the sovereignty of God over all things that should be one of those foundational truths that completely governs a pastor's life, his ministry, and his teaching.  It is the truth about God that should dictate and dominate all that he both believes and teaches - is God sovereign over all things.  May God help us to be men of deep convictions that are born out of a life of a constant, abiding, and heartfelt study of the Word of God.