Compose new melodies that release new praises to the Lord. Psalm 33:3
For some reason when I think of singing, I often think of American Idol. It always amazes me how people can be so oblivious to the out of tune notes they are singing. It seems to me that it is much easier to recognize when someone else is out of tune, but we struggle to recognize it in ourselves. I think it’s true with our hearts as well and recognizing what they hold. We often fail to identify the lyrics we been believing about ourselves and the world—the lyrics that devastate our hearts and keep us from believing in the song God wants to sing over us.
The Bible tells us to “sing a new song” or compose a new melody 7 times throughout its pages. There are things that happen to us, things we experience that get our melodies off key. Ian Cron, psychotherapist, author and Enneagram teacher (a powerful tool to understand who you are and others better), talks about how every personality type has a story we tell ourselves. He points out that these stories are often “polluted and in direct opposition with God’s grace”.
What is the story you’ve been telling yourself for years? Is the melody you have been playing on autopilot in your heart leading you closer to His grace or farther from it?
Don Miller, author, and expert on creating a story says “If you want to change, pick a new story.” I think we often feel like the lines have already been written and we have no power to change what our future holds. The only thing we can’t change is the past. We can’t rewrite what has happened to us or just ignore that some of the lyrics in the songs we have lived through aren’t so hope-filled. But what we can do is compose a new melody—a new way of seeing the song that has played out. We can choose to reinterpret what our past means and how we have come to view ourselves because of it.
Sometimes we have to go back to where the melody began to take shape. Go back to the early days and ask ourselves what were the lyrics of the song often played in our homes. The Bible tells us to” sing a new song” because life can distort the song in our hearts, and this song becomes the lyrics we live out. Is the song you are singing in your heart what you want to continue to live out? You have to witness and observe the lyrics you are choosing to believe and then decide to either keep singing them or write a new melody.
The lyrics I have had to fight to rewrite in my own life as a Type 1 Reformer “Perfectionist” (according to the Enneagram) are “You’re not perfect, you won’t make it. It is never gonna be good enough.” But God’s song over me sounds more like this: “You were born for this. Created by my hand so that your weaknesses would become my strength. Partner with my power within you, and there is no stopping what we can do!”
Oh, his song over me is so much sweeter. I want to live out His song! Zephaniah 3:17 says that “the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
He song over you is full of love and is a joyful, hope-filled song. He dances with delight when he thinks of you. He can’t wait for you to get in tune with the lyrics he has written for you. It is such a beautiful song of surrender, freedom, and unbelievable purpose.
Is the song you’ve been singing satisfying to your heart or is it deafening to your soul? Fight to write a new melody and to get in tune with God’s song over you. I promise it plays out so much more beautifully than the song you’ve been singing over yourself!
Be Bold ~ SHINE YOUR BEAUTIFUL LIGHT!