Lesson 11: A Personal God Changes Your Behavior

In previous lessons we have seen two things we need to know about God, that God is Personal and therefore changes our life and our prayers. Our next change is how a Personal God will change our behavior.

The first thing to change is how you handle your singing.

 Ephesians 5:15-19 “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart."

According to our text, if we are to be wise Christians, then we should not get high on liquor, but high on the Lord. And one of the many ways we are encouraged to do that is by singing to the Lord from our heart. And the key words are “from the heart.” Each time we come to a church service and sing a hymn or a contemporary song, it is to be sung from our heart as a love song to Jesus. The music is not for our personal entertainment but as a vehicle for personally expressing our love to the Lord. It is bad enough that we forget the purpose for singing in church services, but we make things even worse when we forget that God is with us wherever we go.

When we truly realize God is Personal then the first way we will not sing to Him is as a source of entertainment. To help illustrate the foolishness of doing this in our personal relationship with God, we look at it through the eyes of another personal relationship, a marriage. I could act as if I am singing a love song to my wife while I am showing off my comedy skills to those watching. I was singing to my wife, but not really singing praises for her. I was entertaining for the praises of others.


So what do we think we are doing when we do that to God? Do we think He is more impressed with a song from Hollywood, or a song from our heart? Whom are we singing for? Have we forgotten that He is right here with us? Have we forgotten that God is Personal?

When we realize that God is Personal, the second way we will not sing to Him is as a ritual. For instance, what if I were to sing to my wife as if just going through the motions in complete mindless boredom? Oh, I would be singing, but it is not from my heart. No, I was just performing a boring ritual. So what do we think we are doing when we do that to God? Do we think He does not know the difference? Do we think He is pleased with a boring ritual? Have we forgotten that He is right here with us? Have we forgotten that God is Personal?

* Memorize: Ephesians 1:4 – He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.