Are You Superstitious?

Of course not! That’s your answer, correct? Let’s be sure! Superstition is based on the ignorant faith in an object having magical powers. Another word for superstition is “idolatry.” The English word for superstition comes from a Latin word, superstito. This word means to “stand over” or to “stand outside of ordinary logic.” Super means “over,” so the word indicates authority.

If you are a human being on this Earth, you have embedded in your ancestry someone (probably many) who were superstitious. As Christianity spread, it pushed out superstition in many countries and areas. However, a great many cultures could not conceive of life without their beliefs in idols or supernatural objects, so they merely added Christ to their group of gods. This was especially true of Africa. However, Europe and Asia have had more subtle superstitions that they held as truth.

Think of positive superstitions like a four-leaf clover, a horseshoe over a door, or a hex sign on the side of a barn. Then there are the negative ones, like a black cat, walking under a ladder, or breaking a mirror. Perhaps you’ve even entertained these signs of superstition. And then there are the proverbial “old wives tales” that we still can hold as truths.

The United States is a melting pot of great cultures and a diversity of physical attributes. But also, many immigrants brought superstitions with them from their nations of birth. Through the generations, some of these have continued into our contemporary thinking.

My country of birth is Ghana in West Africa. My family members were not only idol worshipers, but women in my family were hosts to different ceremonies of worship. When I became a Christian, I began to look at the traditions and religion of my family with new eyes. It took some time to rid myself of the baggage of living in superstition during my formative years. Have you dealt with the generational impact of superstition on your life? How can you tell?

Do you have behaviors that show superstitious practices in your life? Some I often see are a rabbit’s foot, walking under a ladder, crystals, salt over the shoulder, or Friday the 13th. These are all superstitions that can let evil take root within you. They replace God’s supremacy with your reliance on their own pseudo-powers.

Sometimes a habit can show a superstition. Walking to avoid cracks in the sidewalk, entering a room with a specific foot are examples. Other times, I have heard people saying, “If anything bad can happen to me it will happen.” This is called Murphy’s Law. This is a negative confession, asserting that the person believes that negative circumstances to occur more than God, who can and does change evil to good for those who love Him. What an insult to the Almighty! There are many other sayings we contemporary Americans make that usurp God’s power and assign it to something else.

However, if God is sovereign (and He is!), He is jealous of anything that we give power to instead of using Him as our source of power,

As women, we are the “hands that rock the cradle.” As Christian women, we directly influence a generation that faces “political correctness run amuck!” Our kids, in the name of our accepting others, will watch as the culture turns from a Godly nation to an antireligious nation. We can love and accept others without accepting their beliefs. I still love my family members in Ghana who don’t hold to the one true faith. However, I just won’t look the other way as they practice their beliefs. Neither should you with those you know..

Bring your kids to know the difference between good (God) and evil (superstition, etc.). Teach them how to interact with people who are not Christian, how to love them as Jesus did. Don’t allow superstition in any form to be in your home. Let your children experience the way that you go first to God when you need help, when you give thanks, when you have a request. Allow them to participate in prayer with you. Give them opportunity to share about other kids’ beliefs and how they differ from your Christian tenets. Train them in being able to speak a loving, defense to the Christian faith.

Your God, the one who made you so lovely on the inside because of the cross, has great jealousy for you and your family. Whether you have children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews, be a living testimony to your Supreme God. If we do our job, we can eradicate the culture from anything that even resembles superstition.

There’s enough of us, so let’s roll!