Music.

One of the things that I have learned over the past year is that what you listen to does matter. I use to think that music was harmless. It has a good beat so why not listen to it? If you think that way, well I did too.
As a christian I felt as if God was convicting me of this. 400 songs on my ipod & pretty much none of them were christian songs. I thought this is really wrong. How can I be a christian & not even listen to songs that lift Christ up on a regular basis? I'm not saying that ALL secular music is bad. I mean Taylor Swift is pretty awesome, I really like her music but its about being careful to what you listen to.
I started listening to Lecrae, Tedashii, & some other christian rappers & I thought wow, this is good stuff. Why should I listen to Lil wayne or Lady Gaga or whoever if I can listen to them with the same type of beats but just different lyrics. I get tired of hearing about sex, weed, and money in songs. If you're a christian & you love Jesus then why would you listen to a song that talks about how money is great & you'll do anything to get it? Or why would you listen to a song about sex when you know they're talking about it in a way that is against the way the bible talks about it ?
I don't say this because I've got it all figured out or because I'm smarter.. I say it because I struggle with it too. Music is one of the easiest things to fall into temptation with. Songs on the radio, songs in movies, and they have catchy beats. They are so easy to get stuck in your head.
Songs represent people and it seems like basic knowledge but Katy Perry use to sing christian / gospel music, but now she doesn't & theres more artists like that but now she sings.. well you know what she sings now. The point is some of her songs aren't too bad, like firework, there's nothing wrong with talking about how someone makes you feel & how they are special but from a big picture sense, I don't want to listen to that because she walked away from christian music. She'd rather sing for herself than sing about God. I have a problem with that. I'd rather listen to a song about how I have 99 problems & Jesus is going to solve them.
This is kind of a mix up of thoughts but its just something that I feel strongly about & I just thought I would share :)