Anyone who has sung “Take My Life and Let It Be” in a worship service may not know that the hymn was born from the pen of a young Englishwoman of frail health, for whom writing was, as she herself said, a form of prayer. Frances R. Havergal (1836-1879) turned personal moments of surrender into verses still sung around the world today.
She was born in Astley, Worcestershire, the daughter of clergyman and composer William Henry Havergal. At age 11 she lost her mother, Jane Havergal. At 14, she was converted to Christ at Mrs. Teed’s boarding school in Belmont, saying that from that moment on, earth and heaven seemed clearer to her.
She studied modern languages, Greek, and Hebrew in Germany and memorized large portions of the Bible. In 1858, at age 21, she wrote “I Gave My Life for Thee” after reading, beneath a picture of Christ, the caption: this I did for you, what have you done for me?
Her health was never strong, which limited her studies, travels, and any chance of going out as a missionary herself. Even so, she supported the cause of missions through hymns, singing lessons, and donations, convinced that surrender to Christ could fit any body, strong or frail.
Her reputation for piety did not come without inner tension. She herself described years of a tormented conscience and doubt about her salvation, until she experienced, on December 2, 1873, what she called a fuller consecration. She also had to clarify, in a letter, that she did not preach the so called doctrine of sinless perfection, of which some accused her.
In early February 1874, during a five day visit to Areley House, she experienced a night of prayer and personal renewal from which the verses of “Take My Life and Let It Be” were born, completed on February 4, 1874, and published that same year.
In 1878 she sent nearly all her jewelry to the Church Missionary Society, keeping only a few pieces as family keepsakes, and moved to her sister Maria’s house in Caswell Bay, Wales. She died of peritonitis on June 3, 1879, at age 42, in that same house.
Havergal’s hymns continue to be sung in consecration and missionary sending services around the world, a reminder that total surrender to Christ does not require great public feats, only a renewed yes each day, even amid a frail body and a short life.
