Singing: Homework to Renew Your Counselee’s Mind

As biblical counselors, we are continually seeking to help our counselees renew their minds, knowing that renewing the mind is an integral step in the biblical process of change. We rightly look to passages like Ephesians 4:22-24 and Romans 12:1-2 to help our counselees understand the process of change and the need to renew their minds by having their thoughts be saturated with the Word of God. We point them to the sufficiency of Scripture in passages like 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:3.

We typically teach people how to be renewed in their minds by reading, meditating, studying, memorizing, and praying Scripture. But are we missing a simple and God-ordained means of grace that could help our counselees renew their minds? Let’s look at Colossians 3:16 to help us flood our counselees’ minds with the word of Christ.

Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” It is what comes next in the verse that I want to emphasize in this article. Colossians 3 goes on to say that we are to have this word dwell richly in us to teach and admonish (Greek for noutheteo, which is where the name “nouthetic counseling” comes from) one another in all wisdom, which leads us to sing! In this verse the word “dwell” is an imperative, meaning you are commanded to have the word of Christ dwelling in you richly. The words “teaching,” “admonishing,” and “singing” are all participles that flow from that imperative. As biblical counselors, we love to “teach” and “admonish” people, but how many of us want to help our counselees sing?

Singing, along with teaching and admonishing, leads to the word of Christ dwelling in us richly. Singing is created by God for His purpose of glorifying Himself. Paul encourages the church in Colossae to sing psalms (literally from the book of Psalms), hymns (praises to God),¹ and spiritual songs (a less specific type of song related to spiritual matters).² The people of God are to sing all types of God-glorifying songs that will help the Word dwell in them richly. How often are you assigning homework for your counselee to sing a psalm, hymn, or spiritual song that directly addresses their struggle?

Colossians 3 addresses the process of change, beginning with setting our minds on Christ, moving to putting to death what is earthly in us, then to putting on the new man, and finally ending with the imperatives of having the word of Christ dwell in us richly, doing everything in the name of Christ, and being thankful. Singing is a means in the process of change. It’s time that we start using this God-ordained means of change in the homework we assign our counselees.

Have you ever noticed how singing is a powerful tool in memorizing things? How did you learn the alphabet? (Are you humming the song in your head yet?) How about the songs made by Schoolhouse Rock (“Conjunction junction, what’s your function…”)? Or think about how when your playlist comes on you can immediately remember the words to the songs that you love to sing. This is because God created music to move our emotions, our memories, and even our very souls. God made singing so important that He decided an entire book of the Bible would be dedicated to singing (Psalms).

So assign your counselee God-honoring songs to sing throughout the week. This is an important aspect; we want our counselees singing theologically rich songs. We want their minds saturated with biblical truths, not catchy tunes. Take the hymnal that you use at your church and pick songs out that will help them fill their minds and hearts with Christ.

Have them sing their psalm, hymn, or spiritual song in the morning after their quiet time and before bed. Tell them to journal about how singing helped them think of heavenly things throughout the week. Have them sing specifically when their flesh is tempting them to sin. Have them record in their “singing” journal what their response was. Grow your counselee’s arsenal of thoughtful hymns and songs so that they can renew their mind. This will also bring them encouragement and thankfulness when they sing them in church. It will grow their affections toward Christ.

Some examples of theologically rich songs are “Be Thou My Vision,” “Holy, Holy, Holy,” Psalm 2, “Behold Our God,” and “All Glory Be to Christ.” For help with singing psalms, there are many artists who are making psalms singable to modern ears with music charts. And remember that singing promotes thankfulness in our hearts and encourages us to do everything in the name of Jesus, whether by word or by deed. We renew our minds by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs! Singing allows us to fight our old man and meditate on the new. John Piper said, “It is no wonder that Satan hates the songs of God’s people. He does his best to keep a church from being a singing church. And he does his best to keep you from being a singing person.… Satan cannot endure the spiritual songs of the saints. You can fight him with song.”³ So tell your counselees to sing!

¹ William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 1027.

² Arndt, A Greek-English Lexicon, 837.

³ John Piper, “Ambushing Satan with Song,” Desiring God, January 20, 1985, https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/ambushing-satan-with-song.