1 Thessalonians 5:20 tells believers not to treat messages from God with contempt or dismiss them out of hand. Paul is urging the church in Thessalonica to take prophetic utterances seriously rather than brushing them aside as unimportant. The verse comes from the apostle Paul, writing to a young congregation he had founded in the city of Thessalonica in northern Greece.
Don’t despise prophesies.
1 Thessalonians 5:20 (WEB)
What 1 Thessalonians 5:20 Means
The verb Paul uses here is one that means to treat something as worthless, to look down on it or hold it in low regard. The thing he names is prophecy, which in the early church referred to words spoken under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that built up, encouraged, corrected, or revealed God’s direction to the community. Paul is not saying that every spoken message is authoritative. He is saying that the church should not reflexively scorn what is offered in this way.
The verse does not promise that every prophetic word will be accurate or that the church should accept whatever is said without thought. The very next verse, which you can read in the passage above, tells the church to test everything and hold on to what is good. So the verse guards against two errors at once: dismissing God’s voice out of pride or habit, and accepting every claim without discernment.
The Context of 1 Thessalonians 5:20
First Thessalonians is one of the earliest letters in the New Testament, traditionally attributed to Paul and written around the early 50s AD. Paul wrote it to a believing community that was under pressure from its surrounding culture, and he wrote with affection, encouragement, and practical instruction about how to live faithfully while awaiting the return of Christ. The letter moves from teaching about the coming of the Lord to a series of short, concrete commands about daily life in the church.
The verses just before and after frame the command in an important way. Paul has just told the church to pray without ceasing, to give thanks in everything, and not to quench the Spirit. Verse 20 sits between that call to openness toward God and the instruction to test all things. Read in this setting, the warning against despising prophecy is part of a larger picture of a community that stays responsive to God’s work among them and uses wisdom in weighing what it hears.
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 the Corinthian believers to pursue love and to desire spiritual gifts, especially prophecy, because prophecy builds up the church. This connects directly to the Thessalonian command, showing that Paul consistently valued prophetic speech as a means of edification.
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 cautions believers not to trust every spirit but to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. This pairs with Paul’s instruction to test all things, reminding us that openness to God’s voice goes hand in hand with careful discernment.
A Short Prayer From 1 Thessalonians 5:20
Lord, keep my heart open to the words you speak, whether through Scripture, through prayer, or through the voices of people who love you. Forgive me for the times I have brushed aside something you wanted me to hear because it came in an unexpected form or from an unexpected person. Give me humility to listen, wisdom to test what I hear, and the courage to hold firmly to what is good. Amen.
