When God Changed My Playlist, He Changed My Life
Inspired by a message from Cortt Chavis, this personal Christian testimony shares how God changed my appetite for worldly music, television, and spiritual influences, and taught me to guard my eyes and ears.
There comes a point in your walk with Christ when you begin to realize that guarding your heart also means guarding your eyes and your ears. What enters through those gates does not stay on the surface. It settles in your soul, influences your desires, and can either draw you closer to God or slowly pull you away from Him.
This post was inspired by a brief but thought provoking video by Cortt Chavis, founder and pastor of Truth Chapel in Loganville, Georgia. If you would like to watch the message that stirred this reflection, you can view it below.
Watch on YouTube- How a message from Cortt Chavis stirred this reflection
- My journey from worldly playlists to worship and spiritual sensitivity
- Why what you watch and listen to matters in your walk with Christ
What inspired this post was a brief but thought provoking video by Cortt Chavis, founder and pastor of Truth Chapel in Loganville, Georgia. His words about worldly music and its effect on the soul resonated deeply with me and brought me back to my own testimony of how God began changing my appetite for music, television, and other influences.
As I listened, I found myself in full agreement because his message confirmed something I have personally experienced in my own walk with Christ. We often hear people say, “Guard your heart.” And yes, that is biblical and necessary. But I have come to understand that guarding your heart also means guarding your eyes and your ears. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” What we repeatedly allow in has a way of shaping what eventually comes out.
I Was a True Music Lover
Before I took my walk with Christ seriously, I was truly an all around music lover. I loved music because I loved to dance, and I appreciated many different genres.
I was a die hard soca fan. That was the music I grew up on. I am Caribbean, from Trinidad, so soca was part of my culture, my environment, and my identity for a long time. I was a huge Machel Montano fan, and I could sing every verse to just about every song he ever made.
I also loved dancehall, especially the older music from the 1990s, and I definitely loved reggae. Artists like Buju Banton, Beres Hammond, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, and many others were part of the soundtrack of my life.
But it did not stop there. I loved RnB too. Artists like Usher, SWV, Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, and others were in regular rotation for me. I loved oldies too, like Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye, and Teddy Pendergrass. I also enjoyed pop artists like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, and Cyndi Lauper. I even liked country music. I truly loved music across the board.
Looking back, music was not just background noise to me. It was part of how I lived, how I moved, how I felt, and how I expressed myself. I even dressed like Whitney Houston and Tina Turner for Halloween before I knew better. At the time, it all felt normal. Now I can see more clearly how much influence music and entertainment can have when you are not yet spiritually aware.
My Playlist Touched Every Part of My Life
That playlist was my norm for more than workouts. It followed me into so many parts of life. It was what I played when I wanted energy, when I was cleaning my house, driving in my car, having fun, traveling, or even dealing with heartbreak. Music had a place in almost every part of my life. It became the soundtrack to my emotions, routines, memories, and moods.
But once I truly began transitioning in my walk with Christ, something started changing in me. Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Slowly, my playlist began to shift. The music I once leaned on no longer felt right for where God was taking me.
In its place, I found myself turning to Christian music by artists like Grace Idowu, Phil Thompson, Nathaniel Bassey, and others whose songs fed my spirit instead of stirring my flesh. Then one day, I realized something had changed even more deeply. I woke up and had no desire to return to my old playlist.
At first, I did not remove it. I just left it there. But months later, I deleted it because I realized I was no longer reaching for it. I wanted music that fed my soul for the life I wanted to live. I wanted songs that aligned with Scripture, songs filled with truth, worship, healing, and declarations over my future. I wanted music that pulled me toward God, not back toward an old version of myself.
Music Does More Than Entertain
One point from the message that stayed with me was the warning that music is not neutral. It shapes atmosphere, influences emotions, affects thinking, and can direct desire. That is why this matters so much.
What we call “just a song” is often much more than that. Lyrics carry messages. Repetition plants ideas deeply. A song can replay in your mind for hours, even days, and whatever is attached to it can linger long after the music stops.
Philippians 4:8 reminds us what should fill our minds: “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report... think on these things.” We cannot continually feed on words and images that glorify lust, rebellion, vanity, and compromise, then wonder why we feel spiritually dull. Eventually, what we consume starts showing up in our desires.
The Same Was True for Television
What surprised me was that the shift did not stop with music. As my music choices changed, my desire for television changed too. Growing up, I loved television. I enjoyed certain shows, stories, and characters. But as I drew closer to Christ, I started seeing things differently.
Recently, I was having a conversation with my cousin, and we talked about how, looking back on our teenage years, so many of the shows we watched carried influence. They made teenage lust encounters seem normal. They normalized sexual immorality, rebellion, unhealthy relationships, and many of the very things Scripture warns us about.
Back then, because I was not reading my Bible, I did not have the wisdom or spiritual understanding to properly filter what I was consuming. I was taking in messages without realizing how much they were shaping the way I thought. What television presented as normal often stood in direct contradiction to the Word of God.
Psalm 101:3 says, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes.” Looking back now, I can honestly say I made many mistakes. But I do not say that from a place of shame. I say it from a place of growth. Those mistakes became learning lessons, and those lessons now help me see how far God has brought me.
When God Changes Your Appetite
I began noticing how much of what was normalized on television lined up with things the Bible calls sin. What once seemed harmless began to feel heavy. What once entertained me began to grieve me. I found myself losing the desire to watch the things I used to enjoy because my spirit was becoming more sensitive.
Then the television in my bedroom stopped working, and I remember thinking, “Oh well, it is a sign to stop.” I laughed, but honestly, I took it seriously.
I still have televisions in my guest bedroom and living room, but I cannot say the last time I actually turned one on. That is not because I am trying to be extreme. It is because I learned that what I feed my soul matters. I want to fill my life with things that bless me, strengthen me, and keep me aligned with God, not things that slowly pull me backward.
Not Everything Is Wrong, But Everything Is Not Helpful
This is not about legalism. It is about discernment. There are people who will say, “It is just music,” or “It is just a show.” But the better question is whether it is helping you pursue holiness.
Is it strengthening your walk with God? Is it feeding your spirit? Is it sharpening your hunger for righteousness? Is it helping you guard your mind? Or is it slowly desensitizing you?
First Corinthians 15:33 says, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” Influence matters. Atmosphere matters. Repetition matters. And if we are not careful, we can keep opening doors through the very things we call harmless.
You Cannot Feed Two Natures
One of the hardest truths to accept is that we cannot constantly feed our flesh and expect our spirit to stay strong.
Galatians 6:8 says, “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” If all week long we fill our ears with sensuality, rebellion, pride, and confusion, then it should not surprise us when prayer feels dry, worship feels difficult, and our minds feel restless.
What we feed grows.
If we feed lust, lust grows.
If we feed fear, fear grows.
If we feed anger, anger grows.
If we feed compromise, compromise grows.
But if we feed our spirit with worship, truth, prayer, Scripture, and things that honor God, then faith grows. Peace grows. Discernment grows. Intimacy with God grows.
That is the life I want.
Choosing What Feeds My Future
I am grateful for the music and sounds of my culture, and I understand how deeply certain things can be tied to memory and identity. But there comes a point in every believer’s life when you have to decide what matters more: your old cravings or your new creation.
For me, this journey has not been about trying to appear overly spiritual. It has been about protecting the life God is building in me.
I want to feed my soul with blessings.
I want to listen to what strengthens my faith.
I want to watch what keeps my mind clean.
I want to protect my peace.
I want to honor God not just in church, but in my private choices.
James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” And that is what this comes down to. Not perfection. Not performance. But pursuit. A real pursuit of holiness. A real desire to walk closely with Jesus. A real understanding that what enters your life through your eyes and ears will shape what comes out of your heart.
A Final Thought
The truth is, most things do not change us overnight. They change us little by little. A lyric here. A scene there. A message repeated so often that eventually it no longer feels wrong. That is how influence works. It becomes familiar before it becomes visible.
So maybe the question is not only, “Is this wrong?” Maybe the deeper question is, “What is this producing in me?”
Is what you are listening to feeding peace or feeding temptation? Is what you are watching sharpening discernment or dulling conviction? Is it drawing you closer to God, or quietly making distance feel normal?
Because what you listen to and what you watch may be shaping far more than your mood. It may be shaping your appetite, your thoughts, your desires, and your walk with God.
