I Gave My Life for Thee

BIBLE REFERENCE:

And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.   2 Corinthians 5:14

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it
again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it
down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my
Father. John 10:17-18  

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ
also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God
for a sweetsmelling savour. Ephesians 5:1-2  

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
1 Thessalonians 5:9-11  

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Romans 6:3-8   

Frances R. Havergal - Lyrics
1836 - 1879

Born: December 14, 1836, Astley, Worcestershire, Eng­land.
Died: June 3, 1879, Caswall Bay, near Swansea, Wales.
Buried: Astley, Worcestershire, England, the city of her birth.
On her tomb­stone was the Scripture verse she claimed as her own: The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:7

Philip P. Bliss - Composer
1838 - 1876

Born: July 9, 1838, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.
Died: December 29, 1876, Ashtabula, Ohio.Bliss and his wife died in a tragic train wreck caused by a bridge collapse. He survived the initial impact, but went back into the flames in an unsuccessful a­tempt to rescue his wife.
Burial: The remains retrieved from the Ashtabula disaster were placed in a common grave marked by a cenotaph in the Ashtabula Cemetery. A cenotaph in memory of the Blisses was also erected in the cemetery at Rome, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1877.

HYMN HISTORY:

Francis Ridley Havergal was born on December 14, 1836, at Astley, Worcestershire, England. She was the youngest child of the Rev, William Henry Havergal, a minister of the Church of England. Her father was also a noted poet and church musician.  Miss Havergal had training in linguistics and music. Although she was a highly educated and cultured, Miss Havergal always maintained a simple faith and confidence in her Lord. It is said that she never wrote a line without first praying over it. Her entire life was characterized by spiritual saintliness. In spite of being always frail in health, she lived an active and productive life until her death at the age of forty-three.

As part of her education, Francis studied in Dusseldorf, Germany. In the art gallery of that city hangs the famous painting by Sternberg, ”Ecce Homo,” a vivid portrayal of Christ, wearing his crown of thorns, before Pilate and the Jewish mob. Beneath the picture are the words, “This have I done for thee; what hast thou done for Me?”

While visiting the museum and seeing the painting, Miss Havergal was humbly moved. After gazing for a considerable time at the painting she took a pencil and scrap paper and quickly wrote the stanzas for this hymn. Later, while visiting her home in England, she again noted the words she had hurriedly scribbled, but felt the poetry was so poor that she tossed the paper into a stove. The paper, is said to have floated out of the flames and landed on the floor, where it was later found by her father. He encouraged her to keep the words and composed the first tune for the text.

Francis R. Havergal is also author of the hymns “Take My Life and Let it Be” and “I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus.”

The present tune,  was composed for this text by the American gospel songwriter, Philip P. Bliss. It was dedicated to the Railroad Chapel Sunday School in Chicago, Illinois, and first appeared in Bliss’s Sunshine for Sunday School, 1873.

Other hymns composed by Philip P. Bliss are “Hold the Fort,” “It Is Well With My Soul,” “Jesus Loves Even Me,” “My Redeemer,” “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning,” and “Once for All.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, the four verses of the hymn ask the listener four important questions:

I gave, I gave My life for thee, what hast thou given for Me ?  -

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Jesus gave the ultimate gift of love by offering His life as a sacrifice for sin. God will ask all of us what we have done with His Son Jesus? Have you accepted Him or have you rejected Him?


I left, I left it all for thee, hast thou left aught for Me ?  -

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:6-8

Christ not only took upon him the likeness and fashion, or form of a man, but of one in a low state; not appearing in splendour. His whole life was a life of poverty and suffering. But the lowest step was his dying the death of the cross, the death of a malefactor and a slave; exposed to public hatred and scorn. Have you forsaken anything for the cause of Christ?


I’ve borne, I’ve borne it all for thee, what hast thou borne for Me ?  -

For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not;  but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:20-24

Are you willing as a Christian to suffer persecution for the name of Christ?   Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 3:12  


I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee, what hast thou brought to Me ?  -

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;   Ephesians 1:6-7 -2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1

Have you offered your body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God?