We Should Not Let Bad Thoughts Take Hold Of Our Lives

Last updated on: March 18, 2022 at 7:32 am by Henry Karlson

We Should Not Let Bad Thoughts Take Hold Of Our Lives 2022-03-18T07:32:30-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

St. Poimen Greek Orthodox Broterhood Arizona, USA: St Poimen / Wikimedia Commons

We often have odd ideas cross our minds, causing us to wonder how and why we thought them. When this happens, it is best to ignore them, and that means, not to ponder them and why we had them. But, because of how we are, this often is easier said than done. We end up contemplating them, trying to discern where the thoughts came from, trying to figure out what we did to cause them, and in the process, we risk becoming consumed by them. For the more we ponder them, the more power we give to them, and so thanks to our attention, they gain strength, until, at last, what we might have thought was an odd, but bad thought, becomes a temptation as we think about what it means to put the thought into action. Thus, the more we reflect upon certain thoughts, the more we try to understand why we have them, they more attached we become to them until we begin to heed them and act in ways which we otherwise would never have considered before. This is why, when such thoughts cross our mind, the best thing for us to do is not ponder them; as Abbe Poemen told two monks, if we ignore them, they will perish without us having to do anything ourselves beyond ignoring them. First, he said to Abba Isaiah:

Abba Isaiah questioned Abba Poemen on the subject of impure thoughts. Abba Poemen said to him, ‘It is like having a chest full of clothes, if one leaves them in disorder they are spoiled in the course of time. It is the same with thoughts. If we do not do anything about them, in time they are spoiled, that is to stay, they disintegrate.’[1]

Then, Poemen said to Abba Joseph, while such thoughts will wither away, we need patience, some willingness to let them play out and destroy themselves. That is, we must not expect them to vanish instantly. We must suffocate them, as it were, depriving them of every source of energy which would allow them to gain strength and influence us on what we do:

Abba Joseph put the same question and Abba Poemen said to him, ‘If someone shuts a snake and a scorpion in a bottle, in time they will be completely destroyed. So it is with evil thoughts; they are suggested by demons; they disappear through patience.’ [2]

We must not let any such odd thought get the best of us. We must not let them to hold our attention in any fashion. It is better to ignore them and forget them than to question how and why we got them, because the more we question them, the more they are given life by us, and the more they will be strengthened by our attention until, at last, they will have been given so much life they end up taking over our lives. Even if we do not give in to some evil suggested by them, that is, even if we have not given into temptation, they can still have an effect on us as we begin to think having such thoughts in any context indicates something bad about ourselves. That is, we will begin to consider them as signs of how evil our heart must be. We should not do that, which is why Poemen pointed out that there can be many outside influences, “demons,” which inspire such thoughts. Once we realize how bad ideas can and often do come from outside ourselves, we have even less reason to ponder how and why we thought them, because we have nothing to do with their formation. They are truly outside our own agency, our own control. Realizing this, we should see why we should not let such thoughts disturb us, because once we do, we are likely to fall into the crap, ponder them, and give them the vitality and attachment which they need in order to cause us trouble.

Truly, we must realize, whatever temptations we face, they are all common to humanity as a whole. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13 RSV). Temptation is not a sin, likewise, therefore, having some odd, indeed, bad thought enter our mind is in itself not a sin. It is what we do with such thoughts, if we embrace them, which can lead us to sin.

If we are to focus on anything, it should be on what is good and true, what God has revealed to us; we should focus, that is, on love, and what love would have us do. If we do this, if we focus on love, we will be submitting ourselves to the dictates of love, to God, and evil, which would have us act against such love, will have no power over us. Or, as James said, the devil will flee: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Jas. 4:7 RSV).

Our minds are influenced by many things. Not everything which enters them come from our own conscious agency. What is important for us is to realize how fluid our mind, our thoughts, can be, and how sometimes outside sources will create ripples in our mind as if they were a stone thrown into a body of water. Those ripples will be noticed, but if nothing is done in response to them, such as having more stones thrown into the water, they will subside. Thus, we will find that when evil thoughts cross our mind, they will vanish if we do nothing about them. What is important is that we do not let them agitate us. We must not let them upset us. We should just accept them as a part of life, letting them come and go; once we do so, we will never let them have any hold on our lives.

[1] The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Trans. Benedicta Ward (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1984), 169-70 [Saying of Abba Poemen 20].

[2] The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, 170 [Saying of Abba Poemen 21].

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook.
If you liked what you read, please consider sharing it with your friends and family!

Desert Monks

Spiritual Reflection

Desert Monks

Sayings of the Desert Fathers

Spiritual Reflection

Previous Post

March 16, 2022

St. Catherine Of Siena’s Criticism Of Religious Authorities

Next Post

March 20, 2022 The Kingdom Of The Cross

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz