Letting Go of Useless Thoughts
Ephesians 4:17
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
Futility of their thinking is defined as useless thoughts. Therefore, spiritual and emotional health starts by letting Christ take every thought captive. He wants you and I free from futile thinking because it is purposeless and unfruitful for us and our children.
So, how do we follow the apostle Paul’s advice and no longer live in futility of thinking?
Or as I like to say, “What does letting go of useless thoughts look like in the Christian life?”
I don’t think it’s easy by any means, but I’m hoping with more time in prayer, and quickly recognizing when I’m susceptible, God will guide me through it. Especially if I take a biblical approach to those useless thoughts.
With that in mind, my plan is to dive a little deeper into Ephesians with you today and define futile thoughts. We will then identify them in our lives and the lives of our children and learn how to biblically create new thoughts to replace them. The best part is we all have the ability to do this!
It’s called neuroplasticity. The brain’s ability to adapt to changes in the environment, learning, recuperating from an injury, and experiences. (1) If you want an in-depth way to learn about creating new thought patterns check out Dr. Carline Leaf’s blog.
My friend, I believe building ourselves and our children up in times of great evil depend on our ability to biblically adapt our brains to this environment.
Shall we get started?
How the Gentiles (Non-Jews) Are Futile in Their Thinking
When the bible talks about Gentiles, we know the writers are referring to non-Jews. In today’s culture believers of Christ may consider non-Christians in a similar light.
The one of the primary themes in this powerful book is how experiencing Christ’s grace gives us a heart for others, a persona of general peace, and a loving nature.
Now, I understand we don’t get there overnight.
But as Christ continues to transform our hearts into his image, we long to be rid of the ways of the world alongside futile thinking. Paul, the author of Ephesians, gives us four distinct descriptions of useless thoughts the Gentiles practice and what we may even see in ourselves at times.
“They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.” (Ephesians 4:18)
- Darkened in their Understanding
- Separated from the life of God
- Ignorant
- Hard Hearts
Four Ways Useless Thoughts Affect Christians
First, we Christians can be darkened in our understanding, just like non-believers. We see this when morality and spiritual issues arise. Lack of knowing and reading God’s Word can affect how we respond, think, and feel.
It can also leave us open to false teaching. But what happens to people like you and me who read the Bible every day and still struggle with areas of darkened understanding?
We are easily frustrated, fall into a defeated mindset when we mess up, and berate ourselves and others when we don’t get our way. Before we know it, we are falling back into our old patterns of coping.
Binging on food, television, our drink of choice, or ranting verbally to anyone who will listen is something I’ve been guilty of more than I care to admit. Even worse, is withdrawing into myself and believing the worst about myself and how the other person feels about me.
They are lies from the enemy, I am too eager to believe because he is so good at convincing me it’s true. And I forget who I am in Christ.
I know Jesus came and died to free me of that way of life and that way of thinking. However, living out victory takes intentional thought-grabbing moments and laying them at his feet.
I don’t mind admitting, I need help doing this more often. It’s also something my heart longs to do better in my closet relationships. Maybe you do too.
After all, understanding is a gift (Daniel 2:21) to be prayed for (Psalm 119:24). It has cognitive, moral, and spiritual implications. (1) When you and I are darkened in our understanding, there may be an area of our sin nature we are reluctant to surrender to Christ.
This can be an area of pride, fear, or anger. Or it may be lustful desires for material things, desire for attention, success, or food. Paul is urging us to see with new eyes and grasp with new thoughts, the power of Christ’s grace and generosity.
He knows how hard it is to put off the old self and what we’ve been taught to believe our entire lives. However, we’ve been given the special gift of a renewed spirt. With the Spirit comes a heart willing to bow to Christ and love anyway. It’s a heart who yearns to let go of the old life and its corrupting ways.
Second, useless thoughts separate us from the life of God.
When you and I heard about the good news of Jesus we were taught the truth that is in Him. (Eph. 4:21) The sinful life entangling us and separating us from God has been bought and paid for by Christ.
Ideally, we can come before Him and commune with Him, whereas before, we could not fully do so. No longer darkened in our understanding of who God is and what he has done to repair and restore relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus, we desire to walk with Him in holiness and righteousness.
Although this new relationship does not take away the sins naturally falling from our human nature, it does change our hearts to please God, seek Him, and get to know Him better.
The thing I notice the most is when I give in to selfish, useless thoughts, I feel distant from God. Do you ever feel that way?
Sometimes I still choose to do things my way, and not His. Then I have the nerve to complain, “Where is God? Why isn’t He doing something about_____?”
Thirdly, ignorance can be at the root of useless thoughts.
The context of ignorance in this verse seems to be willful and intentional. God has said from the beginning if we love Him, we will find Him when we search for Him with all our hearts. (Jeremiah 29:13)
The question may be, “Where are we searching for answers?” When old wounds, hurtful comments, or difficult situations take place in our lives we have a choice.
We can stop and identify the emotion triggered with the experience. Before letting our thoughts get carried away, we can ask, “Is this true?”
Sometimes we associate and insert thoughts that progress us towards a negative direction when they are not even true! Instead, we can memorize a familiar scripture to plant the seeds of God’s truth in its place and counteract untruth.
I’m not talking about denial I’m talking about confronting negative thoughts, determine the root, and determine if it’s true.
Or we can hang on to our old patterns of thinking. In my life it may look something like this:
My Family: “Why did you leave the door open to the garage and let all the cold air in?”
My Thoughts: “Great job being careless and leaving the door open.”
My Words: “I don’t know, I guess I forgot to close it.”
Maybe ignorance, in this case, is willfully choosing to continue a negative cycle of thinking with others because of a history of criticism, distrust, or fear. Were my thoughts above true?
No. They were not true. However, the emotion evoked was shame and guilt, which from previous experience with the person asking the question made me feel careless.
Lastly, a hard heart dwells on the interaction repeatedly and holds a grudge.
Jesus taught us to forgive offenses as often as they happen. We tend to think, well, he was God in the flesh, He can do that. For you and me, it’s not so easy.
The idea Paul inspires is putting off the old self corrupted by its deceitful desires and be made knew in the attitude of our minds. (Eph. 4:22b, 23) God loves us so much we can be filled to overflowing with His love.
When I worked in a hospital as a registered nurse, I resisted getting too close to my patients. I purposefully hardened my heart, so I would not get hurt. It was a practice I had learned early in life when my father chose to live far away and my mom had trouble showing love.
But, like he does so many times in life, God had other plans.
I married into a wonderful family who did show love in big ways and often. And despite their many and varied illnesses, my patients and their families showed massive love to one another and those of us who cared for them, too.
Slowly and gently God chipped away at this hard heart. The power of his love builds resilience and replaces useless thoughts with those that restore and heal broken and hard hearts. Slowly, as we learn to trust Him more, He renews our minds, too.
Summary of Letting Go of Useless Thoughts
Maybe we can close in a prayer today using scripture to speak to our hearts and opens our eyes to God’s better plan.
Father in heaven, you see our hearts, you know we struggle at times with futile (useless) thoughts. The enemy can easily attack us through the words of those we love because of the way we show our emotions. Thank you so much for enough grace to build our faith so we are not tossed about by careless words, human cunning, or deceitful schemes of the devil. Praise you for your glorious renewal of our spirit each day, Lord. In Jesus name, amen.
Have a wonderful day, my friend. May your heart be light as you place your spiritual and emotional health in the hands of the Lord!
If you need coaching help be sure to let me know here! I look forward to hearing from you!
References:
Elwell, Walter A. “Entry for ‘Understanding'”. “Evangelical Dictionary of Theology”. . 1997. Biblestudytools.com
Gulyaeva NV. Molecular Mechanisms of Neuroplasticity: An Expanding Universe. Biochemistry (Mosc). 2017 Mar;82(3):237-242. doi: 10.1134/S0006297917030014. PMID: 28320264.