How I stopped listening to Secular Music.
It’s foolishness to say you believe in Music and not in God or Spirits.
– Mo’
Please note that before I was finally able to stop completely, I tried and failed many times. When an idea has not become a conviction, it’s difficult to live by it. Determination and resolve are good but not enough to maintain such a stand.
Some years back, when I was gradually being drawn to Jesus, I was painfully brought to terms with the fact that I had to let go of certain things in my life.
Prior to then, I was always updated on anything music (secular). My friends and I always had the latest tracks on our devices both audio and video. I was having the time of my life or so I thought.
The kinds of songs we listened to were super catchy and captivating but something always puzzled me then; the songs got old very fast. A song could be released on a Monday and go viral so much that it was on everybody’s lips but by the next two or three Mondays, it would have become old to be replaced by another “cool music”.
For a long time, I continued like that, ignorantly.
The songs were always in my head. I subconsciously sang them even in my dreams.
I had the lyrics stored in my head and I gladly shared these songs with everyone who was interested. I had no idea how much those songs had affected me.
“Music cleanses the understanding, inspires it, and lifts it into a realm which it could not reach if it were left to itself.” — Henry War Beecher
Fast forward to much later, I began to get weary of the cool meaningless songs on my phone so I introduced gospel songs.
I challenged myself severally to get rid of the songs on my phone which were of no profit to me, songs that only painted terrible images in my head. This was hard for me mostly because of my association but God found a way to isolate me from the company I was in and I went through a thorough ” dark period” during which a lot of things happened and I met a friend/mentor who solidified the convictions I was gradually building. I had a three hour chat with this mentor and my life changed afterwards. Amongst the many things that happened to me was my deliverance from the connection I had with strange songs and sounds.
Truly, transformation of the mind is a great form of deliverance; until the ideas you have are replaced with better ones, you will never leave where you are.
I got tons of “Gospel songs” downloaded on my devices (most of which I was later to delete when I was able to discern which songs were actually gospel).
With the help of the Holy Spirit and discipline on my part, I was able to totally do away with every song that didn’t glorify God and looking back now, I wonder what made them appealing to me in the first place.
I then began to learn the power of music…
Music and Sounds
Almost every person on planet earth loves music, although music is said to have originated from Africa, people all over the world are now drawn to different kinds of music.
“Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.” — Ludwig van Beethoven
Although, music could be defined as just sound organized in time which if not properly organized, becomes noise, there is a spiritual dimension to music.
Music and sounds are used for several purposes all over the world especially cultural and religious practices.
Music is powerful and can be used to invoke spirits ( through chants and dance), capture minds and even hypnotize people.
Music is directly related to spirits. There is hardly any spiritual practice that doesn’t involve music or sounds.
Because music carry spirits, the kind of music you listen to directly affects your intellect, psychology, emotions, behavior, mind and soul.
Music is the only medium that can transmit a man immediately from the physical realm of senses to the unseen realm. Music and sounds make us aware of the divine supernatural beings that are amongst us though unseen.
Some Christians are of the opinion that the kind of music you listen to does not affect your walk with God which is false because what invokes one spirit sends another away. A kind of music whose sound and lyrics invoke the spirit of lust or violence will definitely put off the Holy Spirit of God.
“Music should be healing; music should uplift the soul; music should inspire. There is no better way of getting closer to God, of rising higher towards the spirit, of attaining spiritual perfection than music, if only it is rightly understood.” — Hazrat Inayat Khan
People often ask me what kind of music is more spiritual: Is it Vedic mantras, Gregorian chant, devotional Bhajans, the great symphonies of Beethoven, traditional Gospel hymns, indigenous drums or even rock and roll? I usually respond by saying any music that helps reconnect us to our essence — to our inner and divine nature — is spiritual.
The spiritual nature of music cannot be defined by religion, culture or genre. Music precedes and transcends all of those frameworks. To even compare music and spirituality as if they were independent concepts feels a bit odd to me. Music is, at its essence, the sound of spirit.
