“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as yo teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”
Colossians 3:16
Each of us who know our salvation are eternally and overwhelmingly grateful to Jesus for rescuing us. When we reflect on all He has done for us in our lives, our King who humbled Himself to be with us, our hearts swell with joy and gratitude until it’s bursting at the seams. Why? Because we know to our core we didn’t nor don’t deserve all He has given us. Yet, He gave anyways because of His immense amount of love for us.
We are His. Our hearts sing His praises. Our feet dance for His glory. Our souls are set aflame with His joy. However, each song, each dance, and each flame is different for we are different. Our pasts separate us, setting us apart from each other. No life is lived exactly as another. Sure we may experience similar situations, such as a car wreck, but we don’t experience it exactly the same.
If you and I was in the same car when we wreck, I could be the only in the driver’s seat and you in the passenger. I could see it coming but couldn’t stop it nor call out a warning. You could’ve have been reading and had no clue what struck us. Our mentality afterwards would differ as well and we would each have to learn to cope with what happened in our own ways. The wonderful and spectacular thing is, though, that as we grow in Christ we begin to grow similar to each other.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.”
Acts 2:42-44
How does this fit together? How can we come from different backgrounds and grow spiritually to the point we have everything in common? Let’s use music as an example. Before I accepted my salvation, I listened to hard rock. Some of my friends listened to country and some pop. None of us before Christ entered our lives listened to Christian music. We didn’t want to hear that Jesus music. Yet, now we do and we love it. We even have our favorites.
This doesn’t mean we lose our individuality as we grow closer to Jesus and, thus, grow similar to each other. Nay, this just means as we draw closer to Christ we draw closer to our spiritual family. As we journey through life together with Jesus as our companion we experience life together with our brothers and sisters in Christ. The more we grow spiritually the more we imitate our King, and if we are all imitating our King we have everything in common.
Different worship songs speak to us because of our pasts or our current spiritual age in Christ. I can think one new song is absolutely beautiful and astounding because it reflects how I felt with the Lord rescued me. While a friend may not be affected by the same song, she will have a favorite I might not like as much as she because of how God has healed one of her wounds. Our souls hum with different tunes. Our hearts sing different praises. Yet, they are all because of our overflowing love for God.
Thus, I encourage you, don’t dislike a worship song because it doesn’t speak to you or it isn’t your favorite. In all honesty, singing our praise isn’t really about us, it’s about lifting up God’s name up on high. It’s about shouting out our thanks and our love to God our Father. If the song being sung isn’t helping you do that, that’s okay. Look at the person who it is affecting; try to see, to understand why the song moved them to praise God for what He has done in their lives. Hearing someone else’s story, seeing the Lord through their eyes can renew our love for Him. It can raise our morale. It can also help you to know your brother/sister better. This is what music was meant to be. This is how we praise Him.
“I will sing of your love and justice; to you, Lord, I will sing praise.”
Psalm 101:1 (Of David)
Not the Norm 