Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

1 Timothy 4:16

Maximum Impact. In a sales meeting years ago, our team was asked to define “impact”. We all want to make an impact with our lives, don’t we?

The Apostle Paul was intent on making the maximum impact with his life. He wanted the same for the ministry of Timothy and he gave three specific insights.

1) Watch yourself.

Think about it for a moment. Do you allow God into every part of your life? Your truthfulness? Finances? Sexuality? Entertainment? Relationships? Is there anything or anyone that is off-limits?

2) Make sure your teaching is trustworthy.

In Paul’s second letter to the young pastor, he reminds Timothy that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). So, Timothy (as well as us) should pay attention to how we teach and lead others.

I think the best option for trustworthy teaching is staying faithful to the Word of God and avoiding the temptation of eisegesis (reading something into the text that is not there). Most of the teachers I listen to regularly build their messages using exegesis. Let’s compare the two.

One comparison describes “exegesis is drawing out a text’s meaning following the author’s context and discoverable meaning. Eisegesis is when a reader imposes their interpretation of the text. Thus exegesis tends to be objective; and eisegesis is highly subjective.

3) Persevere.

Finally, we must persist. We don’t give up. We stand until the end.

We’ve all been discouraged from time to time. Paul wrote “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies”(2 Corinthians 4:8-10).

Let’s do more than pay lip service to the power and influence of God’s Word in our lives. To make an impact we must allow Him to transform us by renewing our minds so that we live in such a way that brings honor to His Name.