The Many, Many Blessings of Christian Music

    In Colossians, there's a verse that goes like this: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (3:16; NKJ).
    When I read somewhere that by "spiritual songs," Paul was talking about the kind of Christian music we hear on the radio today, songs about God and the Christian life, it was awesome! Songs that are totally dedicated to God are special, and there are a lot of great things that Christian music does.
    Spiritual songs like this are, firstly, pleasant and clean. There are so many non-Christian songs I've heard with powerfully beautiful music, but I can't bring myself to sing to it or even think about the song because it either alludes to something less-than-pure, or they spike up the lyrics with profanity. But there's no need to worry about that in Christian songs because they never have foul language; the sound of it is good, and the content is safe.
    Christian music also holds something we can relate to very deeply; thoughts and accounts of life as a Christian. The lyrics are about what it's like to be redeemed, what following the Lord is like, what struggles God gets us through day by day. We know these things well, and hearing others sing about it is like finding someone whose favorite book is the same as yours, or making friends with someone who loves to do a certain activity that you also adore. It's exciting and encouraging!
    Songs about God and the Christian life also serve as a reminder, stirring up our memories and bringing spiritual things to mind. Casting Crowns and Tenth Avenue North do this a lot with their wonderful songs about God's grace and deep love, and songs by Mandisa are full of joy and encouragement; and then there are awesome albums like FM Static's "Dear Diary," which has a bunch of songs that portray a person's coming to faith in Christ. Listening to all these songs and the stories they tell is like reliving parts of the past, remembering how God's worked in our lives, and how He's still leading us. Those kind of topics are very helpful to remember while listening to them, and later when situations bring the lyrics back into mind.
    On top of all these things, there's the vital point that Christian music is something we can worship the Lord with. Not only is it enjoyable, but it's really a good thing to do, "For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful" (Psalm 147: 1b, NKJ). Christian songs extol His awesomeness and give Him glory for His perfect works and character. Undoubtedly, the music's got to be as beautiful to His ears as they are to ours. Plus, it can be done anywhere; singing along to the radio on a car ride, hanging around the house, and it can even be done without music when one knows the lyrics of the song by heart.
    Ah, there are so many blessings in Christian songs. Aren't you glad we have so many to sing? :)