Is God interested in the Songs/Movies I Listen to/Watch?
First off, let’s begin this discussion by explaining some terms.
Most often, what is received in the conscious mind lasts temporarily. You can easily forget what registers on your conscious mind. However, what is transmitted to the subconscious mind (From the conscious), is hardly ever forgotten. Usually, this is stimuli received repeatedly. That’s what leads to habit formation and man’s philosophy to life. That’s why for example, if you pass through 3rd mainland bridge daily, and you always see someone selling yogurt, and you buy from the person, you tend to form the habit of always buying yogurt on 3rd mainland bridge.
We all know that a habit is something that is done repeatedly, and seemingly beyond our control…but no…these habits were formed from what registered on the subconscious mind. Therefore, to control our habits, we must attack the source – what goes into the subconscious mind.
As regards our will, God gave the man a will and gave us free will to make choices and decisions for ourselves. However, God’s plan for man is that man will bring glory to Him. He then expects us to align His will with ours, to ensure that His own will is done even in our everyday life. So, we have a choice, and in essence, control, over most of the stimuli that our sense organs receive. In other words, more often than not, we have control over what we see, what we hear/listen to, where we go, what we wear, what we do, what we say...etc.
Now, let’s go to the crux of the matter – Is God interested in the songs I listen to? Is God interested in the movies I watch?
As we defined earlier, what do you think? Does God “want to know or learn about your entertainment/social life?” Let’s look at Psalms 8:4-6. In as much as we are mere mortals, God cares and in fact, wants to know about EVERYTHING that concerns us. Certainly, your entertainment life is not left out of God’s scope. Jeremiah 29:11. We often quote this verse because we believe that God has good plans for us. Think about it this way…He who wants the best for you will be interested in all the spheres of your life.
Why is God interested in your entertainment life – the music you listen to and the movies you watch?
That said, let’s now look at these two branches – Music and Movies- How do they affect these reasons for which God is interested in our entertainment/social life?
We mentioned earlier the five sense organs and our discussion today would be focusing on two of the five – ears and eyes. We also mentioned earlier, that the Mind is of two levels, and the information registered on the subconscious mind is usually permanented. Not forgetting that we mentioned that God gave us free will and we have control over our choices. Hence, we have control over what we see and what we hear (as these two are our focus).
In our world today, there is a constant battle between God and the devil, for the soul of man. It is much easier for the Spirit to respond to the call to repentance/ salvation because the spirit is that element of God in a man. However, it is a lot harder to convert the soul and make it holy, as the Father is 1 Peter 1: 15-16. So now, that is where the work is.
In these end times, perilous times, the devil tries to use everything that comes our way to derail us from the path to holiness. That’s why there are so many illicit and profane videos flying around – music videos, movies, etc. Videos that do not make you a better child of God. Videos that deter you from growing spiritually, that deter you from being holy and perfect as God has said Matthew 5:48. Because the devil knows that what we see and what we hear (what we allow into our subconscious mind) controls our mindset and philosophy, that’s why he keeps bringing unedifying videos, songs, articles, etc our way.
The devil knows that the media is the best way to sow his evil seed in the heart of man. What is the media? The means through which information is passed. Whatever the media tells its recipient, is what the recipient formulates his ideologies on. Therefore, we must be conscious of who or what our media is.
As a child of God, you are also a media to those who are yet unsaved, to get to know God. If your soul is still being controlled by the devil, in the songs/movies you listen to/watch, how then will you be a shining light to the world?
If the scenes in the videos you watch, register on your subconscious mind, and the things you see in the videos become part and parcel of you, how then would you bring glory to God’s name in all you think, say, do, or go? Ponder on this and place side by side: Philippians 4:8.
Let’s look at it this way, for example when you see a video filled with nude ladies/guys, what does that trigger in your mind? Even if the video is for just 3 minutes, as humans, within a few seconds of seeing something, especially things that are sensual, our conscious mind picks the nude pictures and within a split second, downloads it unto the subconscious mind, such that hours after you have seen that video, it replays in your mind again. This could result in you being aroused, which leads to an entirely different ball game – fornication or masturbation.
In the case of MUSIC – music soothes the soul, and it was also recorded that music helps deliver people from their depressed state. See what happened to King Saul in 1 Samuel 16:14-23
In essence, what are we saying?
B – Blasphemy – movie content speaks against some religious truths/ doctrines. For example, a movie that speaks against Christ. Be mindful if a movie you are about has this rating.
D – Drug abuse – movie content promotes drug consumption and abuse. To avoid being taught the strings of abusing drugs… avoid movies with such a rating.
L- strong Language – movie content promotes the use of strong/vulgar language. It does not in any way edify you if you watch such movies and learn such words and then use them in your conversations. That’s why Apostle Paul warns us in Colossians 4:6.
N- Nudity – movie content shows a lot of nude people. This has nothing to teach you except to excite your hormones and trigger you're being sexually aroused. Which as we mentioned earlier, results in fornication, masturbation, and adultery (in the case of married people).
S – Sexual conduct - the meaning says it all. Movie content promotes sex and all forms of sexually-inclined activities. You already know that this is certainly no good for you.
V- Violence - Movie content fosters violence. This promotes fighting.
Now, most movies have one or more of these ratings. How then can you entertain yourself?
First and foremost, get Christian movies to watch, there is hardly ever any rating as the ones listed above, and these will edify you and ensure you are glorifying God.
For other movies, my candid advice will be to abstain if you do not have a very strong mind, or if for instance in the case of movies with S and N, you are currently struggling with masturbation or fornication, and in the case of movies with L or V, you are very abusive, verbally and physically or you are quick-tempered, and in the case of movies with D rating, if you are currently struggling with substance abuse. Just abstain from such movies. Don’t say God’s grace is there to help you. Don’t take God’s grace for granted.
Before you collect movies from someone, ask what the movie is about, try to assess whether it promotes one of the things listed above, let Google be your friend as well. Assess whether you and the giver of the movies have similar movie taste and whether he/she has decided to be mindful of the type of movies he/she watches also. In other words, be mindful and intentional about your associations – friends.
Enough said about movies, let’s see how we can ensure that the songs we listen to, glorify God. The songs we listen to are in effect, a piece of the mind of the singer/ songwriter. It is an outward expression of the thoughts/feelings of the songwriter. For the avoidance of discredit to the secular musicians, I will not mention any names. But when you listen to a typical secular song, you hear things that suggest nudity e.g ileke idi, and some others. Just like we mentioned earlier, about the videos, when you hear things like this, your mind forms images which could trigger your being aroused. A host of songs are churned out on a regular basis, which does not edify the spirit in any way. These should consciously be avoided. As we mentioned earlier, this is a piece of mind of the singer of this song. Now, ask yourself “whose mind do you want to hear from?” Mind of someone inspired by God, or Mind of someone not inspired by God – i.e whose soul is being controlled by the devil.
As a child of God, I perceive you’ll opt to hear from the Mind of someone inspired by God.
Therefore, just like movies, get gospel music to listen to. If you want to grow spiritually, these should be what you listen to, so that you renew your mind as Romans 12:1-2 tells us.
Also, let’s remember that songs are usually used as a means to worship God, as a way to glorify God. So if you keep listening to songs that are not of God, then, your mind is not renewed, and you do not exactly worship God in Spirit and in Truth if you don’t “give attention to sounds” that are of God.
You may wonder, what if I listen to both secular and gospel songs, how can you say that I don’t know the songs that glorify God? Truth is, as we have already established, these secular songs often cause you to sin. So even if you think that you listen to both, you are doing more harm to your place in eternity (reigning with Christ), because of the effect those songs will have on you.
Long story short, inasmuch as I would not want to impose that you should not listen to songs that don’t glorify God, or watch movies that don’t edify your spirit, I hope that this teaching illuminates the subject and I pray that God will breathe upon it and you will make the right choices with your free will that will glorify God.
- Interest:- the feeling of wanting to know or learn about something or someone
- Listen:- the act of giving one's attention to a sound.
- Sense Organ:- an organ of the body which responds to external stimuli by conveying impulses to the sensory nervous system. We were taught in school that these include the Eyes (for sight), Ears (for hearing), Nose (for smelling/perceiving), Tongue (for Tasting) and Skin (for touch/feelings).
- Tripartite: Man is made up of 3 parts – the Body, the Soul, and the Spirit. The Spirit is that element of God in us, the Body is the physical part of the human that can be seen and touched. And the Soul is the intermediary between the Body and the Spirit. In that, the Spirit transmits instructions to the Body through the Soul.
Most often, what is received in the conscious mind lasts temporarily. You can easily forget what registers on your conscious mind. However, what is transmitted to the subconscious mind (From the conscious), is hardly ever forgotten. Usually, this is stimuli received repeatedly. That’s what leads to habit formation and man’s philosophy to life. That’s why for example, if you pass through 3rd mainland bridge daily, and you always see someone selling yogurt, and you buy from the person, you tend to form the habit of always buying yogurt on 3rd mainland bridge.
We all know that a habit is something that is done repeatedly, and seemingly beyond our control…but no…these habits were formed from what registered on the subconscious mind. Therefore, to control our habits, we must attack the source – what goes into the subconscious mind.
As regards our will, God gave the man a will and gave us free will to make choices and decisions for ourselves. However, God’s plan for man is that man will bring glory to Him. He then expects us to align His will with ours, to ensure that His own will is done even in our everyday life. So, we have a choice, and in essence, control, over most of the stimuli that our sense organs receive. In other words, more often than not, we have control over what we see, what we hear/listen to, where we go, what we wear, what we do, what we say...etc.
Now, let’s go to the crux of the matter – Is God interested in the songs I listen to? Is God interested in the movies I watch?
As we defined earlier, what do you think? Does God “want to know or learn about your entertainment/social life?” Let’s look at Psalms 8:4-6. In as much as we are mere mortals, God cares and in fact, wants to know about EVERYTHING that concerns us. Certainly, your entertainment life is not left out of God’s scope. Jeremiah 29:11. We often quote this verse because we believe that God has good plans for us. Think about it this way…He who wants the best for you will be interested in all the spheres of your life.
Why is God interested in your entertainment life – the music you listen to and the movies you watch?
- You were created to bring glory to His name in all you do, say, think, go, etc. because of Acts 17:28, 1 Corinthians 10:31 Isaiah 43:7
- He wants people to see Him when they see you. Matthew 5:13-16, Colossians 4:6
- He wants you to consciously remember who and whose you are and be His true ambassador Proverbs 23:7.
That said, let’s now look at these two branches – Music and Movies- How do they affect these reasons for which God is interested in our entertainment/social life?
We mentioned earlier the five sense organs and our discussion today would be focusing on two of the five – ears and eyes. We also mentioned earlier, that the Mind is of two levels, and the information registered on the subconscious mind is usually permanented. Not forgetting that we mentioned that God gave us free will and we have control over our choices. Hence, we have control over what we see and what we hear (as these two are our focus).
In our world today, there is a constant battle between God and the devil, for the soul of man. It is much easier for the Spirit to respond to the call to repentance/ salvation because the spirit is that element of God in a man. However, it is a lot harder to convert the soul and make it holy, as the Father is 1 Peter 1: 15-16. So now, that is where the work is.
In these end times, perilous times, the devil tries to use everything that comes our way to derail us from the path to holiness. That’s why there are so many illicit and profane videos flying around – music videos, movies, etc. Videos that do not make you a better child of God. Videos that deter you from growing spiritually, that deter you from being holy and perfect as God has said Matthew 5:48. Because the devil knows that what we see and what we hear (what we allow into our subconscious mind) controls our mindset and philosophy, that’s why he keeps bringing unedifying videos, songs, articles, etc our way.
The devil knows that the media is the best way to sow his evil seed in the heart of man. What is the media? The means through which information is passed. Whatever the media tells its recipient, is what the recipient formulates his ideologies on. Therefore, we must be conscious of who or what our media is.
As a child of God, you are also a media to those who are yet unsaved, to get to know God. If your soul is still being controlled by the devil, in the songs/movies you listen to/watch, how then will you be a shining light to the world?
If the scenes in the videos you watch, register on your subconscious mind, and the things you see in the videos become part and parcel of you, how then would you bring glory to God’s name in all you think, say, do, or go? Ponder on this and place side by side: Philippians 4:8.
Let’s look at it this way, for example when you see a video filled with nude ladies/guys, what does that trigger in your mind? Even if the video is for just 3 minutes, as humans, within a few seconds of seeing something, especially things that are sensual, our conscious mind picks the nude pictures and within a split second, downloads it unto the subconscious mind, such that hours after you have seen that video, it replays in your mind again. This could result in you being aroused, which leads to an entirely different ball game – fornication or masturbation.
In the case of MUSIC – music soothes the soul, and it was also recorded that music helps deliver people from their depressed state. See what happened to King Saul in 1 Samuel 16:14-23
In essence, what are we saying?
- Guard what comes into your heart (subconscious mind) Proverbs 4:23. As a child of God, know that you may be physically present in the world, but you do not belong to the world, and you are not of the world.
- Let all that you do, think, say, go…glorify God. Ask yourself this movie I am about to watch, does it glorify God. Always read the synopsis of any movie you want to watch. Also lookout for the movie ratings of whatever movie you want to watch – B, D, L, N, S, V to mention a few. If a movie has one or more of these ratings, it means that it is not good for you to watch as it will not edify your spirit. They stand for:
B – Blasphemy – movie content speaks against some religious truths/ doctrines. For example, a movie that speaks against Christ. Be mindful if a movie you are about has this rating.
D – Drug abuse – movie content promotes drug consumption and abuse. To avoid being taught the strings of abusing drugs… avoid movies with such a rating.
L- strong Language – movie content promotes the use of strong/vulgar language. It does not in any way edify you if you watch such movies and learn such words and then use them in your conversations. That’s why Apostle Paul warns us in Colossians 4:6.
N- Nudity – movie content shows a lot of nude people. This has nothing to teach you except to excite your hormones and trigger you're being sexually aroused. Which as we mentioned earlier, results in fornication, masturbation, and adultery (in the case of married people).
S – Sexual conduct - the meaning says it all. Movie content promotes sex and all forms of sexually-inclined activities. You already know that this is certainly no good for you.
V- Violence - Movie content fosters violence. This promotes fighting.
Now, most movies have one or more of these ratings. How then can you entertain yourself?
First and foremost, get Christian movies to watch, there is hardly ever any rating as the ones listed above, and these will edify you and ensure you are glorifying God.
For other movies, my candid advice will be to abstain if you do not have a very strong mind, or if for instance in the case of movies with S and N, you are currently struggling with masturbation or fornication, and in the case of movies with L or V, you are very abusive, verbally and physically or you are quick-tempered, and in the case of movies with D rating, if you are currently struggling with substance abuse. Just abstain from such movies. Don’t say God’s grace is there to help you. Don’t take God’s grace for granted.
Before you collect movies from someone, ask what the movie is about, try to assess whether it promotes one of the things listed above, let Google be your friend as well. Assess whether you and the giver of the movies have similar movie taste and whether he/she has decided to be mindful of the type of movies he/she watches also. In other words, be mindful and intentional about your associations – friends.
Enough said about movies, let’s see how we can ensure that the songs we listen to, glorify God. The songs we listen to are in effect, a piece of the mind of the singer/ songwriter. It is an outward expression of the thoughts/feelings of the songwriter. For the avoidance of discredit to the secular musicians, I will not mention any names. But when you listen to a typical secular song, you hear things that suggest nudity e.g ileke idi, and some others. Just like we mentioned earlier, about the videos, when you hear things like this, your mind forms images which could trigger your being aroused. A host of songs are churned out on a regular basis, which does not edify the spirit in any way. These should consciously be avoided. As we mentioned earlier, this is a piece of mind of the singer of this song. Now, ask yourself “whose mind do you want to hear from?” Mind of someone inspired by God, or Mind of someone not inspired by God – i.e whose soul is being controlled by the devil.
As a child of God, I perceive you’ll opt to hear from the Mind of someone inspired by God.
Therefore, just like movies, get gospel music to listen to. If you want to grow spiritually, these should be what you listen to, so that you renew your mind as Romans 12:1-2 tells us.
Also, let’s remember that songs are usually used as a means to worship God, as a way to glorify God. So if you keep listening to songs that are not of God, then, your mind is not renewed, and you do not exactly worship God in Spirit and in Truth if you don’t “give attention to sounds” that are of God.
You may wonder, what if I listen to both secular and gospel songs, how can you say that I don’t know the songs that glorify God? Truth is, as we have already established, these secular songs often cause you to sin. So even if you think that you listen to both, you are doing more harm to your place in eternity (reigning with Christ), because of the effect those songs will have on you.
Long story short, inasmuch as I would not want to impose that you should not listen to songs that don’t glorify God, or watch movies that don’t edify your spirit, I hope that this teaching illuminates the subject and I pray that God will breathe upon it and you will make the right choices with your free will that will glorify God.
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