Take My Life and Let it Be
One of the 94 hymns we sing together at Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church on the Gold Coast. Browse the full hymnbook.
Lyrics
Verse 1
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.
Verse 2
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.
Verse 3
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.
Verse 4
Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose,
Every power as Thou shalt choose.
Verse 5
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.
Verse 6
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.
Behind the Hymn
"Take My Life and Let It Be" was written by Frances Ridley Havergal in 1874 during a visit to a friend's home in England. Havergal, the daughter of a prominent Anglican clergyman and hymn writer, was a brilliant linguist who spoke French, German, Italian, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew and could recite the entire New Testament and Psalms from memory. During that visit, she prayed that God would use her to reach every person in the house — by the end of the stay, all ten occupants had committed or recommitted their lives to Christ. That night, too excited to sleep, she wrote the six stanzas of "Take My Life" as a prayer of total consecration. Each verse surrenders a different aspect of life to God — hands, feet, voice, lips, wealth, mind, will, heart, and love. The tune "Hendon" was composed by César Malan, a Swiss evangelist. Havergal lived out the words she wrote, famously giving away all her jewelry and gold to the Church Missionary Society, saying she needed nothing that didn't glorify God.