“I’ll be the angel by your side, I will get you through the night.  I’ll be the strength you can’t provide on your own.  ‘Cause when you’re down and out of time, and you think you’ve lost the fight, let me be the angel.  The angel by your side.”  These are the sweet lyrics that I heard my little angel, Anelysse, singing as she was listening to Francesca Battistelli.  Each time I hear one of my three daughters singing lyrics to their favorite songs, I find such joy in knowing that the words they are communicating are good and honorable to God.

About 4 years ago when my girls were 9, 6, and 5, my oldest daughter was developing her love for music.  She was just beginning to show interest in the popular music her friends were listening to.  I figured that if she was going to be learning secular songs and singing them word for word, I better approve the content!  So, I looked up lyrics to some of the songs.  (I won’t give you names of songs or artists because I don’t want this to be a condemnation of secular music.)  Well, let’s just say that some of the words were not ones I would like my daughters repeating over and over again.  We live in a world where our daughters seem to be growing up way too fast, and I feel that the messages within certain secular songs (not all) definitely contribute to that.

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Realizing that my daughter needed a substitute for the music she was desiring to listen to, I began my search for popular Christian artists that would appeal to her.  It wasn’t long before I discovered some fabulous songs that I just knew my girls would LOVE!  Thrilled with my results, I immediately ordered CDs by:  Britt Nicole, Dara Maclean, Moriah Peters, Jamie Grace, and Francesca Batistelli.  I gave each of my daughters the CDs for Christmas and just as I hoped, they instantly fell in love with the music!!  Lauren Dagle is another favorite.

Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence, and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

I really take this scripture to heart and desire it not only for my own life, but for my precious daughters’ lives as well.  That’s why my quest for honorable music was so important.  I knew that if they had a love for music like their parents do, it needed to have a message that focused their thoughts on something true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, good, excellent, and WORTHY OF PRAISE!

I’m not saying that they are never allowed to listen to secular music.  They occasionally hear my husband’s favorite classic rock tunes or my old Louis Armstrong records that I like to listen to, and my youngest daughter has discovered that she likes ELVIS!  But when my girls are rocking out to their favorite music and singing the songs over and over again, my desire is for the words coming out of their mouths to be pleasing to the Lord.  Psalm 19:14 says, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”    There’s power in our words, even in the songs we choose to sing.  Let our words be LOVELY and of GOOD REPUTE.  HONORABLE to GOD!!

So, I encourage you, mamas.  Take time to learn some of the lyrics to the music your kids are listening to.  If you don’t approve, have a conversation with them about music and the power of words. When you hear songs that aren’t honoring to God, take the opportunity to talk about them and the worldview they communicate and whether that measures up to Biblical truth.  The younger your kids are, the better.  Turn them on to honorable music during their elementary years so that when they are teens, they choose music that is pleasing to God!