Take My Life And Let It Be

Take my life and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;

Take my moments and my days—

Let them flow in ceaseless praise,

Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love;

Take my feet and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee,

Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice and let me sing

Always, only, for my King;

Take my lips and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee,

Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold—

Not a mite would I withhold;

Take my intellect and use

Ev’ry pow’r as Thou shalt choose,

Ev’ry pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it Thine—

It shall be no longer mine;

Take my heart—it is Thine own,

It shall be Thy royal throne,

It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love—my Lord, I pour

At Thy feet its treasure store;

Take myself—and I will be

Ever, only, all for Thee,

Ever, only, all for Thee.

FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL (1836–1879)

THE PROLIFIC British hymnwriter Frances Ridley Havergal wrote this hymn on February 4, 1874. “I went for a little visit of five days to Areley House,” she explained. “There were ten persons in the house, some unconverted and long prayed for, some converted but not rejoicing Christians. He gave me the prayer, ‘Lord, give me all in this house!’ And He just did. Before I left the house, everyone had got a blessing. The last night of my visit I was too happy to sleep, and passed most of the night in praise and renewal of my own consecration, and these little couplets formed themselves and chimed in my heart one after another, till they finished with ‘Ever, only, ALL for Thee.’ ” As Frances wrote the words she capitalized ALL.

Two months earlier, she had made a complete surrender of herself to Christ and experienced “the blessedness of true consecration.” She wrote: “I just yielded myself to Him, and utterly trusted Him to keep me.”

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Romans 12:1