Hold on to what is good. Romans 12:9-10 9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. This past weekend I went rock climbing with my girls at a local rock climbing gym. We do this from time to time and we all love a good challenge. On this particular day, I found myself on a particularly challenging route that was testing my limit. I got to a spot and I was stuck. I was not really sure how I was going to continue and was just about ready to throw in the towel when the person who was belaying me said, “ there is a really good hold just to your right, if you make it to there you will make it to the top”. A good hold in climbing terms is one that gives you a really great grip either with your hands or your feet and you can use it for great leverage. Often a good hold is a difference between making it to the top or not. The problem is that there are often bad holds as well, ones that might look nice but just are not stable enough or good enough to get you to the top. IN FACT, THEY OFTEN GET IN YOUR WAY and keep you from making it to the top. When Paul is writing to the church in Rome he says as much, Holds on to what is good, not just hold on but cling to it. Paul knew that the only way we are moved forward in our life is if we hold on to things that are good. Relationships, friendships, beauty and caring for one another. When we hold on to things that are good, things that are of God it moves us forward, it calls us higher. Unfortunately when we hang on to the bad the opposite happens. When we hang on to hate, judgment, nonforgiveness those things pull us down they keep us from realizing our own potential. Recently, we have seen with Hurricane Harvey that even in the midst of a terrible situation where people have lost everything they are still holding on to the good, people are helping one another, giving to one another and there for one another. They could hold on to the bad but it is not going to move them forward, it is not going to pull them higher. Cling to what is good and be devoted to one another in love. We need to do more holding on to the good. So I reached my right hand out and sure enough, there was a good hold. I grabbed, I clung to it and I was able to continue up the face. I made it higher than I ever had. I made it to the top. May we be people who cling to what is good and allow God in Christ lift us higher!