Scripture Reading: John 4: 23-24, 1 Corinthians 3:5-8, Psalm 33: 1-4
What is the most important thing for Christian’s when writing music? Take a second to think on it.
The answer is very simple- to uphold Scripture. The songs we write should be modeled after the Word of God and have roots that are strong in the Scriptures.
There was no greater songwriter than David in the Bible, and we can start by looking into the Psalms. A lot of time, we want to sing about how we are feeling and there is nothing inherently wrong about that. We may feel a certain way and that comes out in a prayer of sorts in our songwriting. However, we cannot forget about the Biblical value that our songs must represent. You will be sure to find every emotion displayed in the Psalms. Additionally, in the Word of God as a whole, you will always find something that will relate to what your are feeling. Making sure that we uphold Scripture within our music is a personal responsibility of leading worship music and writing songs. If you disagree with this, then you need to ask yourself this question -am I doing this to glorify my feelings, self, or anything else other than glorifying God and King Jesus?
The temptation a lot of times when writing music is to appeal to people. Will people connect with it? When we get in that state of mind, we lose genuineness. Sometimes we want so badly for people to like our songs that we become an echo of what others have done in the past that are popular or have had “success”. But success in worship is measured through the lens of Scripture. It is successful when you worship in spirit and truth (Ref. John 4:24) and when you are genuine. God gave you a gift to create music, so don’t be an echo of others, but rather be who God called you to be!
God is the One who brings the increase (Ref. 1 Corinthians 3:5-8). If you think you can conjure something up to be successful, know that it won’t last. However, when the Lord breathes on something, that is what will last! The best thing to tell anyone when creating music is to just open up the Bible. Have it out and readily available. The Word of God is useful for all things and is the best resource to use when writing music!
May the Lord be praised!