In the early 1700s, a young German nobleman named Nikolaus Zinzendorf visited the Dusseldorf Museum. One particular painting captivated his attention. The painting depicted Jesus with a crown of thorns on His head just before His crucifixion. The caption below read: “I have done this for you; what have you done for Me?” The painting moved young Zinzendorf to a wholehearted commitment to serve God. Count Zinzendorf became one of the most influential leaders in the history of Christian missions.
More than one hundred years later, another young Christian visited that same museum. A tired, seventeen-year-old Frances Havergal sat opposite that same painting. Quietly she gazed at the dramatic painting along with its inscription. Deeply moved, she began jotting down phrases. Miss Havergal’s sister later wrote: “On January 10, 1858, [Frances] read the motto, and the lines of her hymn flashed upon her. She wrote them in pencil on a scrap of paper. Reading them over [once she returned home] she thought them so poor that she tossed them on the fire, but they fell out [of the fire] untouched.”
The story continues that her father grasped the papers that weren’t burned and encouraged his daughter to keep them. Her father wrote a hymn tune for the words. The piece was printed on a leaflet the following year and then in the literary periodical Good Words in 1860. Titled “I Gave My Life for Thee,” today the hymn is sung to the tune written by Philip P. Bliss.
Miss Havergal’s hymn acknowledges what Jesus Christ gave up for us. He was the greatest example of generosity that the world has ever known. As the refrain varies with each verse, we read how Christ gave His life, left all, bore all, and brings gifts for us His children. The hymn closes with a challenge similar to the museum painting’s caption: “What hast thou brought to Me?”
I gave My life for thee,
My precious blood I shed,
That thou mightst ransomed be,
And quickened from the dead;
I gave, I gave My life for thee,
What hast thou done for Me?
I gave, I gave My life for thee,
What hast thou done for Me?
My Father’s house of light,
My glory-circled throne
I left for earthly night,
For wanderings sad and lone;
I left, I left it all for thee,
Hast thou left aught for Me?
I left, I left it all for thee,
Hast thou left aught for Me?
I suffered much for thee,
More than thy tongue can tell,
Of bitterest agony,
To rescue thee from hell;
I’ve borne, I’ve borne it all for thee,
What hast thou borne for Me?
I’ve borne, I’ve borne it all for thee,
What hast thou borne for Me?
And I have brought to thee,
Down from My home above,
Salvation full and free,
My pardon and My love;
I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee,
What hast thou brought to Me?
I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee,
What hast thou brought to Me?
Generosity is “realizing that all I have belongs to God and using it for His purposes.” Among other occasions, one day Miss Havergal practiced generosity when she heard about a need in India to teach women the Bible. She packed up her valuable jewels, saving only a few special ones from family and friends, and sacrificially sent them to the Church Missionary Society. She said she had never packed a box with such pleasure!
Jesus gave everything for you. What have you given to Him and others in return for what has been given to you? Generosity is more than giving money. God has given you time, talents, and energy, and He delights when you use them for His purposes. Ask God where He wants you to invest cheerfully what He has so generously entrusted to you!
