7 Similarities Between Christian Encouragement and Spirit-filled Singing

As I’ve plunged into the deep end of exegesis and research this week, I’ve found even more similarities between encouragement and singing than I expected. These are not fully developed premises, but I hope these basic points and scripture citations inspire you to dive in for yourself.

Encouragement and singing are both:
1. Characteristic of God (Zephaniah 3:17; Romans 15:5)
2. Commands (Ephesians 5:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:11)
3. Congregational (Ephesians 5:19; Romans 1:12)

And encouragement and singing both:
4. Come through scripture (Colossians 3:16; Romans 15:4)
5. Communicate truth (Colossians 3:16, Acts 15:31)
6. Contribute to endurance (Acts 14:22, Romans 15:6)
7. Cultivate the fruit of the Spirit—i.e., Christian love (Colossians 3:14, 21; Colossians 2:2)

Posted by:

Ryanne_JM

Ryanne Molinari (MLitt, University of St. Andrew’s) is a pianist/organist, pastor’s wife, and lover of words. She is the author of Spirit-Filled Singing: Bearing Fruit as We Worship Together, and her writing has been published in journals such as the Journal of the T. S. Eliot Society (UK). Connect with Ryanne by subscribing to her blog or following her on Instagram.