Just As I Am

Behind every hymn there is, of course, a story. The hymn text for Just As I Am was written by Charlotte Elliott (1789–1871), an English woman, who became bedridden during her thirties. She wrote this text some fourteen years after she had been visited by a Swiss evangelist, Dr. Caesar Malan. He had a tremendous impact on her life by saying that she must come just as she was, a sinner, to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Just as Nicky Gumbel (Alpha series tapes) made the point that we never hear about the man who had a major impact on Billy Graham's life, so we do not know from singing Ms. Elliott's text that it was Dr. Malan who inspired her. And I doubt that Ms. Elliott had any idea how many people would sing her text in the years to come and that it would become a major hymn in the Billy Graham Crusades!

The other facet to this story is that Charlotte Elliott wrote this text and published it to aid a building fund, the building being a school for the children of poor clergy. In the end, this one hymn brought in more funds that all the other fund-raising projects combined.

Ms. Elliott is generally regarded as one of England's finest hymn writers. Once again, it is impossible to limit God and impossible to predict the future. God can turn around every situation. He took Charlotte's despondency and despair and turned it into words that have touched the hearts and minds of thousands (maybe millions) of people. Equally important to remember is that God equips ALL the saints for work in His kingdom. Ms. Elliotts are all around us and maybe YOU are Ms. Elliott.

Karla Porter , Music Director