1
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
2
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot;
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
To rid my soul of one dark blot;
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
3
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt;
Fightings within, and fears without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
With many a conflict, many a doubt;
Fightings within, and fears without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
4
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind;
Yes, all I need, in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
Sight, riches, healing of the mind;
Yes, all I need, in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
5
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!
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
6
Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
Has broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
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Irvine, CA, United States
Lord, we come just as we are!
Kampala, Uganda
Amen Lord! Lamb of God I come.
Chesapeake, VA, United States
This hymn says it all. Thank you hymnal.net❤️God bless you.
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States
This is one of my favorite church hymns of all time, because it tells you just how it is.
Swansea, City And County Of Swansea
Beautiful words!
Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria
I have known this song for the past 34 years. While struggling with fulfilling my life set goals and desires without total submission to God. This song came as a revelation in my sleep this morning that God has done all I need, only to come to him 'just as I am' and surrender all to Him.
Bakersfield, California, United States
I have a very special place in my heart for this song. It was playing when I was save on June 23rd 1977.
Just love the hymn, it brings me closer to God. Just as I am.
Hatboro, PA, United States
I heard this hymn on a rerun of ER, of all places. It is not one I have ever heard, as a cradle Catholic, but it is one of which all Christians, and those drifting away, should be aware. As profound as its words is the history of its writer, who rose above her infirmity to write these beautiful words in spite of her mental and physiclal anguish. Sometimes great works come from great suffering. Today I am grateful to ER for introducing me to a beautiful hymn.
Detroit, Michigan, United States
It is possible that more hearts have been touched and more people influenced for Christ by this one hymn than by any other song ever written. Its text was born within the soul of an invalid woman as the result of intense feelings of uselessness and despair.
As a young person Charlotte Elliot lived a carefree life in Brighton, England. She gained popularity as a portrait artist and a writer of humorous verse. When she was 30, however, her health began to fail rapidly and she became an invalid for the remaining years of her life.She was extremely depressed. But a turning point in her life came when a noted Swiss evangelist, Dr. Ceasar Malan, visited the Elliott home. Counseling with Charlotte about her spiritual and emotional problems, the evangelist finally pleaded with her"
"Charlotte, you must come just as you are, a sinner, to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And if you will only come to Him, He'll surely forgive and receive you."
Throughout the remainder of her life, every year Charlotte celebrated that day in 1822 when her Swiss friend had led her to a personal relationship with Christ. And though the text for "Just as I Am" was not written until 14 years later, it is apparent that Charlotte never forgot the words of Dr. Malan, for they form the very essence of this hymn's text.
Charlotte lived to the age of 82, even though she was in ill health for more than 50 years. Often she endured times of great physical suffering:
"He knows, and He alone, what it is, day after day, hour after hour, to fight against bodily feelings of almost overpowering weakness, langour and exhaustion; to resolve not to yield to slothfulness, depression and instability, such as the body causes me 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."
Charlotte wrote the text for "Just As I Am" in 1836. It was published that same year in the 2nd edition of 'The Invalid's Hymn Book', a collection which contained 115 of her original works. Miss Elliott wrote approximately 150 hymns and is regarded today as one of the finest of all English hymn writers.
She wrote, "I remember writing 'Just As I Am'. ... I was feeling particularly despondent and useless. I had been living with my brother, who was pastor of the parish church here in Brighton. He was busily engaged in trying to raise funds to build a badly needed new educational building in which to train the children of poor clergymen.
One day as my brother visited my bedside I exclaimed: 'I just feel so utterly useless while you and your parishioners are working so hard to get enough funds for that new building. I wish there was something that I could do to help instead of just lying here all the time."
That is when her brother asked her about the new hymn she had been working on that morning and asked her to read it to him. To her brother's amazement, when it was printed and sold, this one poem from the pen of his invalid sister brought in more funds for the new school building than all of his parishioners' fund raising projects. After Charlotte's death there were found more than 1,000 letters from individuals around the world expressing gratitude for the spiritual influence of this hymn in their lives.
Charlotte's brother left this statement as he approached retirement:
"In the course of a long ministry I have been permitted to see much fruit for my labors; but I feel that more has been done for God's kingdom by this single hymn of my sister's than through all of my many sermons."
Though the message of "Just As I Am" is generally used as an invitation hymn for non-believers, it is also a reminder to Christians that our eternal standing with God is based solely on Christ's merits and not our own. Our daily sufficiency is found in these words of testimony by Charlotte Elliott:
"God sees, God guards, God guides me; His grace surrounds me and His voice continually bids me to be happy and holy in His service - just where I am!" - '52 Hymn Stories Dramatized' by Kenneth W. Osbeck