Approve, Hold and Abstain

“Test (approve) all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians:5:21).

Paul, in his closing statements of his first letter to the church in Thessalonica, gave the brethren some very strong instruction. It’s usually the case that Paul uses the latter parts of a letter to drive in some final points he hopes the churches will take to heart. Test all things, approve all things, hold fast to what is good, and abstain from every form of evil! What an admonition to a new and growing church in the faith. What an admonition to you and I today! While this scripture might be only two sentences long, the shortness doesn’t take away from the breadth of wisdom instilled in the spiritual principles it conveys. To really dive deep in hopes that this scripture will become part of who we are, let’s break the scripture down into three parts.

Test (approve) all things

Sometimes we can be afraid to test our attitudes and actions to determine their godliness because we deep down already know the answer; the answer being that what we are doing and what we are thinking do not align to the values that are instructed to us in God’s Word! The “casual” lie, the “accidental” click and lewd acts, the “informative” gossip, the “justified” fit of rage, the “need” for one more drink, and so one, can slowly develop into habits justified by the fact that, “Well, I’m only human.” When will we shine the light of God into the deepest parts of our lives and approve our attitudes, thoughts, and acts as either of God or not of God? The enemy wants all of us to keep those hidden areas under darkness and not bring them to the surface, expose it to the light, and conclude it to be wrong.

“But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Awake O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you’” (Ephesians:5:13, English Standard Version).

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life”(John:8:12, New Living Translation) .

What POWERFUL scriptures!

Hold fast what is good

Every day is a new day to be challenging existing attitudes and actions, and concluding whether they are right or wrong. It’s going to be an ongoing process! But once we find and approve those things that are good, we have to hold on to them, or as the scripture would say, “hold fast what is good.” That’s going to be hard to do when we are holding on to the bad! One of the biggest impediments to godly change is not being able to let go of the evil attitudes and actions that gave us temporary pleasure and comfort! Light has no fellowship with darkness, so likewise holding on to good and evil just doesn’t mix. Let’s take an active approach each and every day to pry away former ways of thinking and behaving, and replace them with Christ-like attitudes, intentions and deeds!

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians:4:31).

Abstain from every form of evil

This scripture is not done yet! Once we approve all things and hold fast what is good, the next thing we need to be doing every single day is actively abstaining from every form of evil. The enemy is not going to leave us alone because we started to make positive spiritual strides towards our Creator. In fact, he’s got a whole dump truck of tricks and muck he is waiting to dump on us to get us to go two steps backwards. Don’t let him succeed. Fight onward! Actively abstaining from every form of evil everyday goes a long way in removing the hold and power the enemy has on us! The best way to abstain from evil is to draw near to God!

“So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you” (James:4:7).

Approve all things, hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil!