Cultivating Discipline
It is not uncommon to hear spontaneous singing equated to Spirit-filled singing, the idea being that sudden praise must spring from a movement of the Holy Spirit. This may be so, and we should welcome such worship. But, interestingly, one of the most significant Scripture passages about singing, Ephesians 5:18–21, suggests that we sing not merely to express sudden emotion but to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit—specifically, self-control. These verses reveal that our singing is most truly Spirit-filled when it is characterized by sobriety, understanding, and submission.
Ephesians 5 considers the sins that Christians are to leave behind and the ways they are to live instead. Sexual immorality must be replaced by sacrificial love, crude speech by thanksgiving, darkness by discernment, and drunken debauchery by Spirit-filled singing. That worshipful singing is the opposite of drunken debauchery is a beautiful idea, but it may strike readers as strange. It is logical for sexual immorality to be replaced by pure love and folly to be replaced by wisdom, but to replace debauchery with singing is perhaps less intuitive. And yet, a closer consideration of congregational singing reveals it as a marvelous means of cultivating discipline—the clear opposite of debauchery. Singing together is a distinctly spiritual discipline that invites us to practice self-control “in all things” as we manage our time, focus our minds, regulate our emotions, strengthen our relationships, and control our bodies (1 Cor. 9:25).
Drawing from Galatians 5, Spirit-Filled Singing provides a biblical framework for intentional worship, exploring how singing and the fruit of the Spirit both work to glorify God and edify his church.
Manage our Time
It is no coincidence that, just after calling the Ephesians to make the best use of their time, Paul invites them to sing (Eph. 5:16). Even beyond the church, studying music contributes to better time management as it requires practice, prioritization, and problem-solving.1 Similarly, musical worship helps us cultivate self-control as it teaches us to steward our time. Prioritizing corporate worship means turning down other opportunities, taking control of our schedules, and dismissing excuses that would keep us from gathering. Then, we must set aside the distractions of our busy world to be present and engaged for an hour or two. Additionally, music as an art performed within time teaches us to number our days (Ps. 90:12). Just as a song exists only while we are singing it, our lives on earth are fleeting. But through regular congregational singing, we not only make the best use of our time, but we point one another toward our destiny: an eternity of unending praise.
Focus Our Minds
Musical worship also helps us cultivate self-control by focusing our minds (1 Cor. 14:15). Colossians 3:16 presents singing as a way of dwelling in the word, teaching one another, and warning one another. As it couples memorable melodies with Scripture-saturated lyrics, singing encourages us to set our minds on things above (Col. 3:2). Even beyond worship, God seems to have designed music to promote mental clarity, ability, and resiliency. Music-making improves our memories, enhances our problem-solving, and boosts our creativity. Intentionally making and listening to music has the amazing power to not only sharpen our minds but strengthen our brains.2 When we sing together, we thus have the opportunity to literally renew our minds (Rom. 12:2).
A broad set of resources, including piano scores, chord charts, and powerful search tools, is available on SingHymnal.com to help music leaders, pastors, and musicians lead worship in a variety of contexts. Learn More.
Regulate Our Emotions
Music is emotionally powerful. This is why debates over musical styles can become so heated. Our favorite (and least favorite) songs stick with us, intimately imaging and shaping our hearts. We may return to certain playlists or genres based on our moods or situations. And yet, music is not merely meant to reflect our emotions but to help regulate them. Martin Luther, a champion of enthusiastic singing, has the following to say about music’s affective power:
A greater praise of music than this we cannot conceive. For if you want to revive the sad, startle the jovial, encourage the despairing, humble the conceited, pacify the raving, mollify the hate-filled . . . what can you find that is more efficacious than music?3
Intentionally selected music can reorient our wayward emotions. In this sense, worshipful singing can sanctify our affections. When we join together in song, we practice self-control as we both express and rule over our emotions. We may not arrive at church bubbling over with joy, but we are still called to rejoice in song. When we sing, we govern our hearts according to the gospel.
Serve Our Neighbors
Here is a convicting point: Ephesians presents singing together as directly connected to submitting to one another (Eph. 5:19–21). But musical worship is often more characterized by stylistic division than mutual submission. I am reminded of the worst choirs I have accompanied, in which every singer is intent on making his or her voice heard. The result? A terrible cacophony. By contrast, the best choirs prioritize not only musical ability but self-control and submission. Stronger singers temper their voices to support their quieter neighbors. Pitch-perfect singers project to guide those with less accurate ears. All members follow the beat established by the conductor.
When we gather for worship, we have a choice: Will we sing like soloists or like a choir? Will we come selfishly bent on our own ways or determined to practice self-control by serving one another? Will we seek to show off our voices or to use them to support those around us? Will we keep silent during songs we don’t like or sing them out of love for our leaders? Our singing is not meant to further division or dissension, which are works of the flesh, but to teach us mutual submission as we join together in both musical and interpersonal harmony. In this, it can help us develop relational self-control—if we let it.
When we sing, we govern our hearts according to the gospel.
Control Our Bodies
There is a clear bodily contrast between drunken debauchery and Spirit-filled singing. The former degrades and uses our bodies for evil, while the latter sanctifies and prepares our bodies as instruments of righteousness (Rom. 6:13). Throughout his epistles, Paul uses athletic imagery to emphasize the intensity and physicality of self-control, but music provides another apt analogy (1 Cor. 9:25, 2 Tim. 2:5). As a competitive pianist, I spent years honing my physical technique and avoiding anything that could damage my hands. Music-making requires immense bodily discipline, and musical worship likewise invites us to steward our bodies well.
Ephesians 5:19 is clear that we can worship God in our hearts when our bodies fail—and they will. But singing together is an innately physical activity. It means—as far as we are able—opening our lips, engaging our lungs, standing or sitting tall, clapping our hands, listening with our ears, speaking with our tongues, and playing the astonishing instruments that are our vocal cords. When we join together in song, we devote our whole bodies to a holy, God-honoring endeavor; we practice our spiritual worship, which calls us to present our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1).
Prepared for Praise
While we should welcome moments of spontaneous singing, we must also learn to approach musical worship as an opportunity to develop self-control. When we gather to sing, we must come ready to make the best use of our time, set our minds on things above, rule over our emotions, submit to one another, and control our bodies. Beautifully, when we sing with such self-control, we are not rejecting sudden or expressive worship but rehearsing for it. Consider a professional jazz band: Its music sounds effortless as members riff off one another without hesitation. And yet, such artistic freedom is the product of years of training, listening, experimenting, and refining. Such an ensemble is prepared for spontaneous performances not despite but because of self-controlled practice. Just so, when we sing with self-control, we are preparing ourselves as ready instruments, poised to praise “always and for everything” (Eph. 5:20).
Notes:
- Spark Box, “Children Who Participate in Music Lessons Are Better Able to Problem Solve and Manage Their Time | UGA Online | Online Degrees, Certificates and Courses,” UGA Online, September 16, 2019, https://online.uga.edu/news/children-who-participate-music-lessons-are-better-able-problem-solve-manage-their-time/.
- “Your Brain on Music,” Pegasus: The Magazine of the University of Central Florida, n.d., accessed September 19, 2025, https://www.ucf.edu/pegasus/your-brain-on-music/.
- Martin Luther, “Music,” in What Luther Says, ed. Ewald M. Plass, II: Glory to Prayer (Concordia Publishing House, 1959), 982–83.
Ryanne J. Molinari is the author of Spirit-Filled Singing: Bearing Fruit as We Worship Together.
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