Wednesday Wisdom Tip: Those Lyrics Say What?

 

Do you monitor what your kids listen to?

If you do set boundaries, what are they and why?

Before my children went to middle school, I only allowed them to listen to Christian music.

Strict, I know. Since Jesus said in Matthew 12:34, “…For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of”, I wanted to help my kids choose carefully what their hearts were full of. The easiest choice for me was to choose music written by artists I was familiar with.

As we gave them more opportunities to make wise choices, I saw that not always were their choices in regards to music the best ones.

I remember a day I decided to try something new instead of arguing about this tender topic. My daughter was asking if she could buy a particular album. I asked her to read me the lyrics out loud. She hesitated. She turned a shade a red, but she never read those lyrics out loud. She just couldn’t bring herself to say them.

I’m sure you have heard the line, “I’m just listening to the music. I don’t pay attention to the words.” In a non-threatening way, ask to have the lyrics read to you. The same effect won’t happen if they show you the words; they need to read them out loud. If they won’t, I think that says a lot. If they do, this is a wonderful opportunity to have a conversation on the power of words and the impact they have on our lives.

Talk about the power of words, both positive and negative, spoken by Adolf Hitler, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Billy Graham. What about the words of their teacher, your pastor or you in their lives?

Words have power. Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.” (NLT)

What words are we giving power to?

 

For more conversation starters, see my freebies page!

Lynn