Charlotte Elliott 1789 - 1871

Just as I am
Tho tossed about
With many a conflict
Many a doubt
Fightings within and fears without
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Hymnist Charlotte Elliott was born in Clapham, England on March 18, 1789.

As a young person she lived a carefree life gaining popularity as a portrait artist and writer of humorous verse.

But by the time she was thirty her health began to fail rapidly and soon she became a bed ridden invalid for the remaining years of her life.

With her failing health came great feelings of despondency. She once wrote,

“He [God] knows, and He alone, what it is, day after day, hour after hour, to fight against bodily feelings of almost overpowering weakness, languor and exhaustion, to resolve not to yield to slothfulness, depression and instability, such as the body causes me to long to indulge, but to rise every morning determined to take for my motto, ‘If a man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’”

Just as I am
Poor wretched, blind
Sight riches healing
Of the mind
Yea, all I need, in Thee I find
Oh Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Charlotte had not always believed. Long before writing Just As I Am she had struggled with doubt.

A turning point came in Charlotte's life however when in1822 the noted Swiss evangelist Dr. Malan visited the Elliott home. He impressed upon Charlotte the truth, “You must come just as you are, a sinner, to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world!”

Charlotte never forgot these words and fourteen years after her conversion penned her most famous hymn.

Just as I am
Thou wilt receive
Wilt welcome, pardon
Cleanse, relieve;
Because thy promise I believe
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

The Testimony of Charlotte's Life:

"...My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness". 2Cor 12:9

Charlotte often felt despondent about her lack of ability and usefulness. Yet God was able to use her to bring happiness and peace to many lives.

In 1835, her brother was trying to raise funds for a school --St. Mary's Hall. Charlotte felt useless and unable to help with the project. It turns out however that during her lifetime the sale of her hymn brought in more funds for the school than all her brothers fund-raising projects combined!

...Dora Wordsworth the daughter of poet William Wordsworth asked to have the lines of Charlotte's hymn read to her again and again on her death bed.

...Sir Henry Norman an officer in British-controlled India accepted Jesus as his Saviour through the witness of her hymn.

...Billy Graham used Just As I Am as the invitation in his crusades.

...In spite of her illness Charlotte lived to be 82. After her death more than a thousand letters were found among her papers - written by people telling her how her hymn had touched their lives!

...Her brother, a clergyman once wrote these words, “In the course of a long ministry, I hope to have been permitted to see some fruit of my labors; but I feel more has been done by a single hymn of my sister’s.”

Just as I am
Without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me
And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Praise God for the beautiful testimony of Charlotte Elliott's life!