While recently watching a program honoring John Madden, I heard Troy Aikman make the statement, “John Madden was the sound track of my career.” And he was. Madden called more Dallas Cowboys games in the 1990s than any other team. I remember those days. But, I digress. Aikman’s words stuck with me. Before too long, I was asking myself, What is the sound track of my life? What music forms the boundaries of my thoughts, emotions, and actions? The entire exercise has proved interesting, informational, and beneficial to me on multiple levels. I ask you today, What is the sound track of your life?
The Importance of the Sound Track of Your Life
Although an individual may not immediately connect to a particular kind of music genre, artist, or listening pattern, I would suggest that we all have something that plays as the sound track of our lives. For me, you can see it in Spotify. With all the electronic gadgets and the ways that they talk with each other, I can listen to music at my desk, the same playlist will play when I get in the car, and it could pick up at home. While on planes and when I mow, usually there is something playing.
Of course, it is not always music. For me, it tends to be music. For you or others, it may be a particular news channel, sports programming, YouTube or Rumble channels, a streaming service, or Christian radio. It could even be a person or group of people. Depending upon where you work, work out, or shop regularly, someone else may often be the primary decision maker as to what you listen to most often.
Think of the sound track of your life as what plays around you most often. What are you listening to either consciously or subconsciously throughout your day?
This is important because the sound track of your life impacts what you reflect upon the rest of the day. Whatever it is that you primarily listen to either consciously or unconsciously works its way into the core of your heart. You will find that your mood, attitude, anxiety and stress levels, and general attention span to what goes on around you connects to your sound track for living.
How do you figure out Your Personal Sound Track for Living?
A great way to identify the sound track of your life is to evaluate what you are thinking about when you are not paying attention to what you are thinking about. (That’s complicated!)
What trickles across your mind when nothing is really on your mind? As you go about your daily routine, what plays in your mind?
- Music?
- News?
- Gossip?
- A coworkers complaints?
- Sermon?
- What you watched?
- What you read?
- The words of who you are with?
- What you have seen on social media?
- Your own personal thoughts?
Where does your mind go when there is no where to go? As you go about living, what are the primary voices of influence in your soul?
Illustrations that Emphasize the Importance of Your Personal Sound Track
I’ve mentioned him before in other blogs, but I believe my Granddad is a great example of this. Throughout my lifetime, I have heard him sing, hum, whistle, or otherwise make music with his mouth. Especially as he has gotten older, it fascinates me that he almost always has a song on his heart. At nearly 102 years old, he has listened exclusively to God-honoring, Christian music for the past 50+ years. Because of that, when his mind goes into neutral, what plays on the sound track of his life are hymns, choir specials, and other Christian music to which he has listened. The song in his heart reflects love of his Savior and the church.
I know it affects me as well in my own personal music. I make specific playlists on Spotify or create particular channels on Pandora to influence myself. When I am discouraged, I want to listen to great music that reflects life in Christ, strength in Christ, and God’s character. At other times, I may want something a bit more focused on heaven. At times I want a particular genre of Christian music. In other moments, I may want just instrumental. Because of that, I’ve made many different playlists to match what I believe the need is for the moment. Sometimes I hear a song and have to pump up the volume and go back and listen to it time after time. The result? I often find myself humming or whistling great music that blesses my soul and helps my walk with Christ.
For this reason, I sometimes encourage people to turn the news off completely – especially COVID news. As I have worked with people and family over the past two years, I have heard how the news increases their stress, is always on their minds, and has a negative impact on them. So turn it off. Instead, I have encouraged them to intentionally choose whatever it is that is on their mind.
This could be repeated over and over with stories.
I was recently spending time with someone when I caught a new vocabulary, new pronunciations to words, and new vocal pattern in this person’s sentences. I’ve known this person for years. After a recent job move, I hear the impact even to the tone and sentence level of new coworkers. Not that any of this is bad in relationship to this person, because it is not. However, it is fascinating how quickly this can happen to any of us.
These illustrations point decisively to why it is important to identify your sound track for living.
Your Sound Track for Life
As those who seek to follow Jesus Christ, walk in the Spirit, and maintain the joy of the Lord, this mattes. Just as you become what you eat, you also become what you listen to. Even when you do not seek to be influenced or controlled by what you listen to, the reality is though that you are. It is part of being a person. For this reason, lyrics matter. Words matter. Voices matter.
Let me challenge you today to consider what is your sound track for life. Whatever yours is, it influences you. The words, lyrics, moods, attitudes, outlook, principles, and every other element of what you listen to regularly affects your heart, your spirit, your level of anxiety, and your walk with Jesus Christ. This influence may seem invisible to you; however, just because you can’t see it does not make it less true.
Let me encourage you this week to listen to what you are listening to. Consider the impact of what that is doing on your own heart. Where you believe it may be influencing you away from a sweet walk with Jesus Christ, then let me encourage you to change the sound track. Lesson the impact of what is around you and may hurt you by intentionally increasing the impact of what you choose to hear that strengthens you in Christ.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
This week, let’s seek to intentionally let the meditation of your heart and my heart be acceptable in God’s sight as we go about living.
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