Colton Dixon - Up + Up

Christian Music

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About Colton Dixon

Colton Dixon is an American singer-songwriter from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a seventh-place finisher on American Idol season 11, who has released Christian rock/pop albums since 2013 including A Messenger.

Faith journey and beliefs

Dixon is an outspoken evangelical Christian who says he was raised in the church; he has explained his 2024 single "Up + Up" as inspired by Jeremiah 29:11, framing it as testimony that God's plans exceed a merely "poverty mindset" version of faith he was taught growing up.

What this song is about

Dixon has said "Up + Up" is built around Jeremiah 29:11 ("plans to prosper you... plans to give you hope and a future"), written to challenge a "poverty mindset" version of Christianity he was taught and to encourage listeners that God's plans for their lives are abundant, not merely survivable.

Sources

This sits in the Music collection on Face of Faith, films, documentaries, music and books that shaped one person's journey into Christianity. If it lands with you, explore real testimonies, bite-sized faith snippets and why Christianity.

Reflection

There is something instinctively hopeful about upward movement, rising above a difficult situation rather than being permanently stuck beneath it. The Bible frequently uses this kind of imagery for restoration and strength: 'Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles,' Isaiah 40:31 promises, contrasting weary striving with a strength that comes from waiting on God. This is not a promise of effortless ease but of renewed capacity to keep going, to rise again after being brought low by exhaustion, failure or disappointment. Songs with this kind of ascending energy can be genuinely helpful in low moments, not by denying the difficulty of the climb but by insisting the climb is possible and worthwhile. Faith does not remove gravity from life's harder circumstances, but it does offer a source of strength beyond our own limited reserves, one that scripture consistently links to patient trust and waiting rather than frantic self-reliance.

Questions to sit with

What currently feels like it is weighing you down or holding you back?
How have you experienced renewed strength after a period of exhaustion?
What does 'waiting on the Lord' practically look like in your daily life?

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