At the end of his first letter to the church in Thessalonica Paul gives them this charge. “Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good (1 Thess. 5:21). In that context, he gives them many things that we can examine and hold on to.
Hold on to your leaders. Honor and cherish them (1 Thess. 5:12-13a). Good leaders are a blessing to any congregation and should be appreciated (Heb. 13:17).
Hold on to peace (1 Thess. 5:13b). Who wouldn’t want to live in peace? But it is something that must be maintained (Rom. 12:18; 14:19).
Hold on to those who are struggling with their faith (1 Thess. 5:14). The importance of working with and helping struggling brethren shouldn’t be understated (Gal. 6:1).
Hold on to a kind spirit or “right-doing” (1 Thess. 5:15). Paul told them not to repay evil but to seek good for all people (Rom. 12:21).
Hold on to happiness and a sense of well-being (1 Thess. 5:16). The command here is to rejoice always. That requires remembering what we can rejoice about (John 16:22).
Hold on to prayer (1 Thess. 5:17). To pray always may seem impossible in the format that we normally see. That doesn’t mean that our days can’t be filled with conversations with God (Phil. 4:6-7).
Hold on to gratitude (1 Thess. 5:18). To give thanks to God for all that He has done is easy to do, but we often forget (Psa. 50:14).
Hold on to the spiritual life and its values (1 Thess. 5:19). Are we working on the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23)?
Hold on to sound doctrine (1 Thess. 5:20). They received direct revelation from God, yet some rejected it. For us it is written, yet sit often rejected (2 Tim. 3:16)
Hold on to a discerning mind (1 Thess. 5:21a). We must seek to have a Berean attitude in discerning truth and what is right (Acts 17:11).
Hold on to the good (1 Thess. 5:21b). There might be a lot of bad, but we must learn to focus on the good.
Hold on to a hate for sin, not sinners (1 Thess. 5:22). Literally the command is to abstain from evil. Often, we confuse that with people. We need to do our best to help them see the good (Jude 23).
In the last five verses, he speaks about other things they can hold on to: blessing, hope, faith, a sense of value, the fellowship, the charge, grace. What are we holding onto in our lives? Is there anything that we could let go of?