“This have I done for thee; what has thou done for Me?”

This was Franc­es Hav­er­gal’s first hymn.

 She wrote it af­ter see­ing Stern­berg’s paint­ing Ec­ce Ho­mo in Düs­sel­dorf, Ger­ma­ny.

A cap­tion on the paint­ing read, “This have I done for thee; what has thou done for Me?” Here is what Miss V. G. Ha­ver­gal wrote about this hymn:

In F. R. H’s MS. co­py, she gives this ti­tle, “I did this for thee; what hast thou done for Me?” Mot­to placed un­der a pic­ture of our Savior in the stu­dy of a Ger­man di­vine. On Jan­u­a­ry 10, 1858, she had come in wea­ry, and sit­ting down she 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 she thought them so poor that she tossed them on the fire, but they fell out un­touched. Show­ing them some months lat­er to her fa­ther, he en­cour­aged her to pre­serve them, and wrote the tune Ba­ca spe­cial­ly for them. The hymn was print­ed on a leaf­let, 1859, and in Good Words, Feb., 1860. Pub. al­so in <The Min­is­try of Song, 1869. Though F. R. H. con­sent­ed to the al­ter­a­tions in Church Hymns, she thought the orig­in­al more strict­ly car­ried out the idea of the mot­to, “I gave My life for thee, What hast thou done for Me?”

Frances Ha­ver­gal her­self said about this hymn:

I was so over­whelmed on Sun­day at hear­ing three of my hymns touch­ing­ly sung in Per­ry Church, that I ne­ver be­fore real­ized the high priv­i­lege of writ­ing for the “great con­gre­ga­tion,” es­pe­cial­ly when they sang, “I gave My life for thee” to my fa­ther’s tune Baca.

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I gave My life for thee, My precious blood I shed, That thou might ransomed be, and raised up from the dead I gave, I gave My life for thee, what hast thou given for Me? I gave, I gave My life for thee, what hast thou given 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?

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This hymn was re­cast in 1871 in Church Hymns,

 under the ti­tle “Thy Life Was Giv­en for Me”:

Thy life was given for me; Thy blood, O Lord, was shed,
That I might ransomed be, and quickened from the dead.
Thy life was given for me; what have I given for Thee?
Thy life was given for me; what have I given for Thee?

Long years were spent for me, in weariness and woe,
That through eternity Thy glory I might know.
Long years were spent for me; have I spent one for Thee?
Long years were spent for me; have I spent one for Thee?

And Thou hast brought to me, down from Thy home above,
Salvation full and free, Thy pardon and Thy love.
Great gifts Thou broughtest me; what have I brought to Thee?
Great gifts Thou broughtest me; what have I brought to Thee?

O let my life be given, my years for Thee be spent,
World fetters all be riven, and joy with suffering blent!
Thou gavest Thyself for me; I give myself to Thee.
Thou gavest Thyself for me; I give myself to Thee.

What have you done for Me?

Ecce Homo (Behold The Man)

Living for Christ - source: 

Count Zinzendorf : Firstfruit by Janet and Geoff Benge

Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf climbed the stone steps of the art gallery in Dusseldorf.

The doorman bowed low, and Zinzendorf nodded in recognition of the gesture. It was May 20, 1719, and this was the fifth art gallery he had been to since setting out on the trip a week before. Zinzendorf strolled around, taking in the various masterpieces that were on display. With him were his new tutor, Herr Riederer, and his older half-brother, Fredrick, who had joined him for the early portion of the grand tour of Europe. The excursion to the art gallery was much like the others Zinzendorf had made on the trip, until he came to one particular painting. for some reason he felt attracted to it. He stopped and studied it closely.
The painting, by Domenico Feti, was titled Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) and it showed Jesus with a crown of thorns on His head. At the bottom of the picture, the artist had painted the words: This I have done for you. What have you done for Me?

The question astonished Zinzendorf. It seemed to hang in the air as he pondered what, indeed, he had done for Christ. The usual answers came to mind. He had loved Him, read the Bible, prayed and sang hymns, but somehow these things seemed insignificant compared to all Christ had done by dying on the cross. Zinzendorf repeated the question to himself: What have you done for me?
 His mind went back to the dining room at the Paedagogium in Halle. He thought about the time he sat at the table listening to all that Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg, the missionary from India, had to say. Now, there was a man who was doing something for Christ!

"I will do more," Zinzendorf vowed quietly as he stood in front of the painting.
 "My life will not be spent in idle touring and visiting."
 "Don't you want to see the rest of the gallery?

" Fredrick asked, his voice breaking into Zinzendorf's thoughts. "You've been standing here in a trance for fifteen minutes."
 "Oh, yes, I suppose I must go on," Zinzendorf replied, taking one last look at the painting. Zinzendorf went on to view the work of famous Dutch and German artists, but he could not get out of his mind the idea that it was time to do something for Christ.
 Shortly thereafter, he caught a vision of his life's work. What could he do for Christ?
 It was so obvious to him now: he could use his life and his money to try to bring all Christians together into one family - one fellowship that would accept and tolerate one another's differences. And so, that was what he did from that moment on.

I Gave My Life For Thee

source:

 Spirtiual Moments with the Great Hymns by Evelyn Bence

I gave My life for thee,
My precious blood I shed,
That thou might ransomed be,
and raised up from the dead
I gave My life for thee,
what hast thou given for Me?

see the whole hymn

 

As a young woman, Frances Ridley Havergal traveled from her home in England to advance her education in Dusseldorf, Germany. While on the continent, in a pastor's study, she saw a motto printed beneath a painting titled "Ecce Homo". The portrayed scene is Christ at his trial, whipped mercilessly, wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe meant for mockery. He's standing between a crowd demanding death and Pilate, who says, "Ecce Homo (Behold the Man)". This arresting depiction of Jesus' trial struck Havergal, who paused to contemplate the biblical event. Before leaving the scene, she copied the caption-phrase, translated: "I did this for you. What have you done for me?"

Later, back home in England, she noticed the line in her notebook, recalled her emotional response to the painting, and quickly embellished the caption. She wrote a poem of five stanzas, each ending with a pointed challenge: What have you given to . . . left for . . . borne for . .. brought to . . . the Christ?

Pausing to read through her completed verse, Havergal thought poorly of her endeavor, and threw the paper into the fireplace. Yes, into the fire. But it didn't burn. Retrieving the lines, she eventually showed them to her father, who suggested they be saved. Years later, she wrote what would become one of her most famous hymns, "Take My Life".

Have you lived your life fully for God as He did for you?