{"id":1106,"date":"2020-09-10T03:01:21","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T01:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/?p=1106"},"modified":"2022-07-14T03:17:30","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T01:17:30","slug":"you-might-wanna-clear-your-playlist-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/index.php\/2020\/09\/10\/you-might-wanna-clear-your-playlist-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"You might wanna clear your playlist&#8230;Here&#8217;s why"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1170\" height=\"730\" src=\"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/joel-de-vera-RgMOBFLGoZM-unsplash-1170x730.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1515\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Above all else, guard&nbsp;your heart,<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;for everything you do flows from it.<\/p><cite>Proverbs 4:23<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">First things first, I had a very weird idea about what &#8220;guarding your heart&#8221; entailed. It sounded so abstract and out of reach. One would think a  rib-cage and sternum were enough to guard the heart, clearly that <em>wasn&#8217;t it chief<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guarding your heart is not just about walking away from toxic friendships and people, it is also about every single other thing you expose yourself to: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>the things you watch on TV, <\/li><li>the books you read<\/li><li> the music you listen to.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">I have a friend who covered her eyes and ears or walked out of the room if what was on the screen didn&#8217;t align with her brand.  Did I think that was a bit much? Yes, but now I finally understand where she was coming from. In this post I&#8217;ll be putting much emphasis on the songs we listen to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The last thing before I get into the crux of this post: there is a lot of controversy about music. Some Christians, <strong>like myself not too long ago<\/strong>, defend celebrities more than they defend the gospel. <em>&#8220;What so and so meant when they said this was&#8211;&#8220;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/3oGNDwNuUSwUjUeI2A\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/black-men-man-dormtainment-3oGNDwNuUSwUjUeI2A\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>How powerful is music?<\/h3>\n<p>Am I the only one who scrolls through comments on YouTube as I listen to songs? People in the comment section talk about:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>how they felt the presence of God as Abbey Ojomu, Theophilus Sunday or Elevation Worship was playing.<\/li>\n<li>some recount how they broke down into tears,<\/li>\n<li>how those were the moments when they rededicated their lives to Christ<\/li>\n<li>some even testify about how some songs sent them into hours of earnest prayer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The next question I ask myself is, what am I ushering into my life when I am not singing songs or listening to songs that have a positive life-giving message?<\/p>\n\n\n<p>It is time for a story. The year is 2019 and I have just made the decision not to listen to any music that promotes anything that is negative. However, I was a <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.urbandictionary.com\/define.php?term=Stan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stan<\/a><\/em> for a certain bands and artists whose music had undertones of negativity, but I defended them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> <em>&#8220;Their biography says they believe in God&#8230; the music isn&#8217;t bad&#8230; it is just art&#8230;they are just raising awareness on mental health issues&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/x0npYExCGOZeo\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/mr-rogers-x0npYExCGOZeo\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A turning point<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking back, a lot of those artists romanticized suffering, anxiety, depression, suicide and the like. What was I doing listening to <em>&#8220;Darkness to me is only water to the sea&#8221;<\/em>? Let us not lie to each other, 2020 has been a tough year, but for me, last year was SOMETHING ELSE. I had really negative thoughts and I had no idea where they spawned from. My life already wasn&#8217;t a walk in the park but listening to that music sent me to the <em>valley of the shadow of death.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> In the middle of the year I had a dream and one of the bands I was a huge fan of appeared. The sky was red and it was quite dark, they walked through the security wall and marched towards my bedroom window  like they were possessed. I did not see the correlation at the time and continued listening to their music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What happened next?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>My earphones were stolen, then my sister bought me new ones. One day they latched onto a door handle and one stopped working. Relevance? I only listen to music while I am wearing earphones, anything other than that is noise pollution. When one stops working? Throw the whole pair away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.gettyimages.com\/photos\/head-coach-jose-mourinho-takes-off-his-headphones-annoyed-while-real-picture-id165263356?s=2048x2048\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Eventually I got the message, there was clearly something that was altered as I was listening to that music and singing along to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How is it that in your right state of mind you can never confess that you are a liability but when there is a good beat and some vocals suddenly you can say &#8220;I&#8217;m a liability, I&#8217;m a liability&#8221;? The aesthetic does not take away the impact of those words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/itsmichg\/status\/1281994270543511552?s=19\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key take away<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>You are what you eat. If you are ingesting content that promotes certain behavior or attitudes, you will begin projecting what is in your system wherever you go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/Zothileee\/status\/1283813674721980426?s=19\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I have made a playlist on YouTube, Wholesome Sounds, click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLGfB4a_C7rwtHb-y6CY22MQ_aT9WS8mKg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a> for the link. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Did you know that it takes about 15 years for an avocado tree to start producing fruit? With that being said, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCCf1bskdVOF_0N4BsEnsDzA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">please subscribe to my channel <\/a>while you&#8217;re at it. There is no content at the moment but  like an avocado we&#8217;ll get there one day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Above all else, guard&nbsp;your heart,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 First things first, I had a very weird idea about what &#8220;guarding&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,49],"tags":[216,217,218],"class_list":{"0":"post-1106","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-god-growth","8":"category-music","9":"tag-can-christians-listen-to-secular-music","10":"tag-secular-music-and-christians","11":"tag-what-does-it-mean-to-guard-your-heart"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1106"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1516,"href":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1106\/revisions\/1516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zoezulu.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}