Spirit and Understanding
“… I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding also.” I Corinthians 14: 15b
This verse captures the essence of a mandate about how music is to function in the church and in our lives. It is first of all to be a product of the Spirit. That indicates that it is to be generated by and controlled by the Holy Spirit. If it is generated by the Spirit, it will reflect accurately the character of God. It will not be man-centered in its message or performance. It will draw attention to Christ and not itself. Secondly- it will be a tool that will produce greater spiritual understanding and knowledge of God. There will be substance and truth in its message. When music that is full of the truth in its message, styling and performance is filling our thoughts – it will truly provide the basis for joyful meditations as we are filling our minds and spirits with truly spiritual thoughts and reflecting on the Truth.