Here we are at the end! Can you believe that we’ve been together talking about tone for the last two months? Spring has sprung here in NC, so I had spring fever and totally and completely flaked out on blogging Week 8, so I am just combining the last two weeks into one post.
In our live study, we spent week 7 talking about recentering our tone onto praising God rather than focusing on our circumstances. Here’s the video for week 7.
The Week 8 verses are following. I’ve linked the reference of the verse to the song on our Tone Up Spotify playlist. Also I figured out how to embed the song so you can listen to it as you read. (I am so fancy.)
1 Chronicles 16:9-10 Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Psalm 148:1-5 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.
I also shared two additional verses (which are also on the FB page) that we don’t have songs for, but which do relate to our Week 8 discussion. They are
2 Corinthians 2:14-15 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
Colossians 4:5-7 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
During our final meeting, we talked about how tone is important in terms of the way that we relate to others. Here is the video from Week 8 and then a sum up of the whole study. Sorry for the length and the ums. I am much more eloquent in real life (wink) so try to attend the live study next time! 🙂
Because there were several points in the study where I wished I’d used a different order, I am going to summarize our learning in the order that I wish I’d used, including the relevant Scripture that we memorized. Here are the 8 Steps For Tone Up: Taming the Tone in Your Home.
- PRAISE HIM AS CREATOR. Begin with praising God for who He is in spite of circumstance. Centering our lives on his power enables our tone to be hopeful. (Psalm 148:1-5 & Isaiah 26:3-4 & Psalm 63:1-4)
- REJOICE IN HIS CREATION (US!). We are his workmanship and our lives and homes and world are his gifts. Negativity comes from a disbelief in his goodness and the goodness of what he has done. The tone we use with ourselves and our families should reflect his great love for us. (Psalm 139:14 & Zephaniah 3:17)
- FILL UP ON TRUTH. If the overflow of our hearts comes out of our mouths, we need to fill up on good stuff like God’s word, praise songs, and quality friendships. The Holy Spirit convicts us of the media, friends, and environments that drag us down. STOP IT with those. (Colossians 3:2-3 & Philippians 4:8)
- MEDITATE ON TRUTH. Our lives our bombarded with messages, good and bad. So while we are intentionally filling up on truth, we also need to be ready to recognize sneaky lies. We need to take each thought captive, rejecting lies and meditating only on truth confirmed by Scripture. When we spend time reflecting on ideas that come into our heads, those ideas will become our beliefs in our hearts, AND those beliefs will come out of our mouths as words. (Psalm 19:14 & Psalm 119:9-11)
- OVERFLOW GENEROUSLY WITH POSITIVE WORDS. We give words and tone all day. Let’s change the proportion to be full of the promises and praise from Scripture. While we can’t be all rainbows and sunshine, we don’t have to be stingy with grace, mercy, and love. (Matthew 12:34 & Proverbs 11:24-25)
- BUILD UP those around you by putting on love and turning toward relationships in love, especially with spouses. (1 Thess 5:10-18; Col 3:12-14)
- TEACH SCRIPTURE with confidence to children in obedience to God. He gives us the authority and the commandment to do so. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Deut 6:4-7; Psalm 89:1)
- DEMONSTRATE, REVEAL, and REFLECT God’s glory to the world. According to Scripture, we are meant to be the sight, the sound, the touch, the taste, and the smell of God’s grace here on earth. ARE WE??! Our tone is the “audio” for the world to hear the words and voice of God to those who don’t know him. (We’re his body, remember?) It’s a big job and one that we should take seriously. (1 Chron 16:9-10, 1 Timothy 4:12, )
Our finale fellowship brunch will be this Thursday, March 17th at 9:30 at my house. Whether you’ve attended the online or live groups, you are welcome to join and bring your children.
Thanks so much for joining in with this study and sharing your lives with me. It’s been a privilege.