Have you ever been feeling down, and suddenly the right song comes on the radio and turns your mood around? Music has been proven to have a positive impact on your brain and can help you feel better. If this is true of mainstream music, imagine what kind of positive impacts that gospel music can have on the brain.
It Sends a Message
There’s a reason that early childhood educators teach songs to young children about things like the days of the week and months of the year: it helps them to remember. Think about the alphabet. Chances are that you learned your ABC’s by singing the song, which has stuck with you all your life.
Listening to faith-based music acts the same way. The ministries of The Way International, a Christian-based organization with a choir of its own, would agree. You are hearing a positive message and retaining it, whether you realize it or not. Oftentimes Christian music contains Scriptures and verses from the Bible. Lyrics can be powerful. Even if we know a song and have been singing it for years, its true meaning can hit home and come together at certain points in our lives. Take the classic Amazing Grace, for example:
T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear
And Grace, my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
At face value, one might assume that Grace is somebody who the singer is afraid of. By analyzing the context of the song, however, we understand that Grace is representative of the Word and the singer’s humility of it.
It is Ancient
Christians have been singing songs of worship for as long as Christianity has been a religion. Ephesians 5:19 encourages us to praise the Lord in through song: “Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.” Christian music’s positivity is good for the soul. Hearing and singing songs about God’s love for us and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ reminds us of His presence, as it has for millennia. The joy of the singer radiates within us and helps our spirits soar.
Contemporary Choices
There is no shortage of uplifting Christian songs, and more are produced every year. Contemporary Christian songs have as deep a meaning as traditional ones do. One of the wonderful things about gospel music is that in contemporary times, it can spill from Christian radio to mainstream radio. There are some bands that consider themselves to be Christian singers and mainstream radio might not even be aware of this. Some of those bands include:
- Switchfoot: “We were meant to live for so much more/have we lost ourselves?”
- Lifehouse: “How can I stand here with You and not be moved by You?”
- Skillet: “I need a hero to save my life/a hero will save me just in time.”
- POD: “There's got to be more to life than this/there's got to be more to everything I thought exists.”
Gospel music gets into the very fiber of the soul and can help a troubled spirit. There are nothing but benefits to be had by listening to it.
