“Don’t pay attention to their whispers! They are unimportant and harmful, and their only purpose is to rob you of your peace and confidence.” (Inner Word)
Here we focus on false and erroneous thoughts that may arise from our hearts or be “whispered” to us by the powers of evil. Even rumors or negative thoughts others have about us can affect us indirectly and cause anxiety.
“Perverse thoughts separate men from God,” as the Book of Wisdom (1:3) says, and we can apply these words to our lives. Especially as the Word of the Lord becomes more familiar and we perceive more clearly how He guides us through His Spirit, we quickly notice the difference. Wrong thoughts have a different “flavor”; they are often useless and disruptive. We must turn away from them and not dwell on them.
We should be especially attentive to identifying thoughts that torment us, frighten us, or seek to rob us of our inner peace. We should not attach significance to them, but rather overcome them. This happens when we turn decisively toward our Father. It is senseless to argue with them or to justify ourselves against such false accusations. If we are at peace with the Lord—and that is the most important thing—these thoughts will be defeated when we turn to God. This is especially important when the devil is involved in these distorted thoughts and wants to use them to separate us from the Lord.
It is important to follow these teachings so that we may remain at peace and, with God’s help, attain it again and again.