Superstition

Today on Speak Life we’re talking about superstitions and the difference between religion and superstitions

Throwing salt over your shoulder, avoiding cracks  in the sidewalk, knocking on wood. There are many things that we as people do that are irrational, yet supposed to keep us safe from bad things happening to us. These are called superstitions.

A superstition is defined as an irrational belief arising from ignorance or fear. So what makes religion different from a superstition? Where superstition is a belief based in fear and ignorance, religion is based on the premis that we as humans are incapable of being in complete control of every aspect of our lives, therefore we believe in a higher authority that is fully able take care of us.

Superstitions:

Salt over the shoulder: if someone spilt some salt they would throw some over their left shoulder. The belief was that salt was a perservative and decay is an agent of the devil. So, if you spill salt it was bad luck because the perservative was wasted. You would throw it over you left shoulder because your left side was believed to be your evil side.

Friday the 13th: this culminated from two seperate sueprstitions. 1. Fridays are inherently bad. Jesus died on Friday and most people are executed on Fridays. 2. the number 13 was bad because Judas was the 13th guest at the last supper. So the two together is considered to be especially unlucky.

Opening an Umbrella inside: When umbrellas were first made they were very unreliable. They were larger than average umbrellas and the springing mechanism was normally much tighter and prone to open more violently. So people would not open umbrellas indoors because of the potential to injure someone in close quarters.

Walking under a ladder: When a ladder is open or leaned against a house it forms a triangle. The belief was that the triangle forms the three points of the trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Therefore to walk uner a ladder was to interupt or break the trinity.

Remember, we worship God because we believe in him and have faith that he is working for our best interest at all times.

Are You a Controlling Person?

Last week we talked about how to identify when you are a in a controlling relationship and how to cope with a controlling person in your life. This week we are talking about how to tell if YOU are a controlling person. Of the people who say they are not controlling 70% of those same people are more than likely controlling. It is hard to tell if you are a controlling person. So what are some of the characteristics of a controlling person?

Signs of a Controlling Person

1. Are you a perfectionist? People who have perfectionist tendencies are more likely to have a controlling personality. Because of the strong desire to have perfection you tend to extend your views onto other people.

2. Does it always have to be your way? If you always have to have your way this is a strong indicator that you may be a controlling person.

3. Do you expect other people to have the same principles and work ethics as you? A controlling person tends to have high and unrealistic expectations of others without considering the circumstances that person maybe facing.

4. Do you find yourself constantly coaching other people in their lives when your life is in disarray? Many people try to establish order in others lives to compensate for their inability to bring order to their own life.

5. Do you issue a lot of threats? A controlling person will issues threats to retain control over other people.

How do You become a Controlling Person?

So where does this controlling personality come from? It mainly comes from one’s own insecurity and desire to feel more powerful and in control of his/her own life. Have you ever seen someone at work receive a promotion at work and then their attitude towards others changes. It may be that that person doesn’t know how to deal with the extra authority and begins to dominate others. Because of the extra authority there is an artificial need to have the respect and submission of others. In the same way we have a desire to feel that our role in this life is significant and carries importance in others lives.

How to Stop being a Controlling Person

A controlling attitude is hard to notice when you are the one being controlling. Here are a few things you can do to counteract the a controlling attitude.

1. Lower your expectations of others. This may sound bad at first, but if you have a controlling personality your expectations are already too high. You must learn to let others live their life and not expect them to do things your way.

2. Let It Go! It’s hard to not take things personally when you are a controlling person. Understand that when others don’t want to do things your way it doesn’t mean they don’t like you or think less of you. They are individuals with a different perspective. They may have a different way of doing things and it may turn out to be better.

3. Be Accountable. Get an honest, even tempered person to help you realize when you are being controlling.

Here is a link to the exercise we detailed on the show about counteracting a controlling attitude:

How to Stop Being Controlling

Having Hope in a Hopeless Situation

This week on Speak Life Pastor David Love is talking about having hope in hopeless situations.

We are able to talk big when we’re going through good times in our life, but how do you talk in the midst of utter and complete failure?

Jeremiah talked about this in Lamentations 3:21-23.

He had just watched Israel be completely destroyed after spending years warning people of the impending doom. But Jeremiah did not give up hope! Even in the midst of a hopeless situation he trusted God:

²¹ Yet this I call to mind
       and therefore I have hope:

 ²² Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
       for his compassions never fail.

 ²³ They are new every morning;
       great is your faithfulness.

The above scriptures weren’t written by a hopeless man. Even though Israel was destroyed, Jeremiah still praised God and had HOPE that tomorrow brought a new day. A day full of God’s promises.

So how do we have such amazing hope? First, It’s not just about a good feeling. Hope is tied to our Faith. Hebrews 11:1 says:
     “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

The only way to have hope is to believe in something. You have been provided by God all that you need to have hope and faith.

Romans 12:3 says, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

The next step in having hope in hard times is to excercise your hope and faith. Being hopeful and having faith is an unnatural act in today’s times. Just like a body builder gets in shape by working out, we must excercise our faith and hope through constantly staying in God’s Word and communicating with him through prayer. Also, faith is exercised through works.

James 2:17-18 “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.  But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Finally, there are two main types of situations that build our faith.

1. utter calamity: hard and disasterous situations that happen over shorter periods in our life.

2. Everyday Situations: the things we go through day to day.