1 Thessalonians 5:20 asks Christians not to treat prophetic messages with contempt. In plain terms, it warns against brushing off words that claim to come from God, especially when they are delivered in the church community. The apostle Paul wrote this short instruction to the believers in Thessalonica, a young congregation in the Greek city of Thessalonica that he had founded on his second missionary journey.
Don’t despise prophesies.
1 Thessalonians 5:20 (WEB)
What 1 Thessalonians 5:20 Means
The key word is “despise,” which means to think lightly of something, to scorn it, or to treat it as worthless. Paul is not telling them to accept every spoken message without thought. He is telling them not to reject prophecy outright, as if it had nothing to offer. The verse sits in a list of short commands about how to live together as a faith community, and it names one specific temptation: dismissing those who speak up with a word from God.
The verse also does not promise that every prophetic word is true or that every speaker is trustworthy. Paul makes that clear in the very next verse, which asks believers to test everything. So this command is about the posture of the listener: open and attentive, not cynical and closed. It describes an attitude of humility that takes seriously the possibility that God may be speaking through someone else.
The Context of 1 Thessalonians 5:20
First Thessalonians is one of the earliest letters in the New Testament, generally dated to around the early 50s AD and traditionally attributed to Paul, who wrote it together with Silas and Timothy. The Thessalonian believers were new converts facing persecution from their neighbors, and Paul wrote to encourage them, correct some misunderstandings about the return of Christ, and give practical guidance for daily life. The final chapter moves quickly through a series of short exhortations, one after another.
Read in that setting, the verse belongs with its neighbors. Verse 19 warns against quenching the Spirit, and verse 21 asks believers to test everything and hold fast what is good. Together these lines suggest a community that neither throws out the Spirit’s work nor accepts every claim uncritically. Verse 20 sits in the middle as a reminder that the balance requires respect for the messages God may send through ordinary members of the body.
Key Phrases in 1 Thessalonians 5:20
1 Corinthians 14:1
Follow after love, and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
(WEB)
Paul urges believers to pursue love and to desire spiritual gifts, especially prophecy. This passage shows why 1 Thessalonians 5:20 matters: prophecy is meant to build up the church, so it should be welcomed as a gift that serves the whole community.
1 John 4:1
Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
(WEB)
John urges believers not to trust every spirit but to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. This verse pairs naturally with 1 Thessalonians 5:20, since openness to God’s word must always be joined with careful discernment.
A Short Prayer From 1 Thessalonians 5:20
Father, thank you for speaking to your people in many ways. Help me to receive what you send me with an open heart and not to brush it aside because it is unfamiliar or inconvenient. Give me the humility to listen to others and the wisdom to test every word against your truth. Keep me from scorning what you have given to build me up, and guide my thoughts so that what is good may take root in me. Amen.
