Music's Shaping of You

According to the popular music streaming service Spotify, there are over 1,300 music genres in the world

What music do you listen to?

What music do you sing?

How does music shape you?

“...singing not only helps us to engage the emotional dimensions of our humanity, but that singing truth helps us to engage with the emotional dimensions of reality, thus helping to bridge the gap between cognitive knowledge and experiential knowledge. … Such are the God-ordained connections between music, singing and the emotions.”

Rob Smith, “Music, Singing, and Emotions: Exploring the Connections,” Themelios 37, no. 3 (2012): 469.

Psalm 119:169–172 ESV

169 Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word! 170 Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word. 171 My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes. 172 My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.

What we sing shapes us.

What we listen to shapes us.

Are you singing truth?

What message is music teaching you?

Are you listing to truth in music?

Colossians 3:16 ESV

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

How do we let the word of Christ dwell in us?

What are we to sing?

Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual songs

‘[M]usic is particularly well suited to being a vehicle of emotional renewal in worship, a potent instrument through which the Holy Spirit can begin to remake and transform us in the likeness of Christ, the one true worshipper.’

Rob Smith, “Music, Singing, and Emotions: Exploring the Connections,” Themelios 37, no. 3 (2012): 473.

Are you aware how music is shaping you?

Are you intentional in its shaping of you?