Composer C. Harold Lowden stated the following about this hymn:
In 1915 I wrote a "light and summery" type of gospel song entitled 'The Sunshine Song" for children's services. It became quite popular, and many pastors wrote to me that the music should be saved, and more general words wedded to it. I came across a copy of it in my files in 1917 and played it over. The rhythm and tempo suggested the words "Living for Jesus." . . . I decided to ask T. O. Chisholm to write the words. I mailed him a copy of the music and suggested the title and the type of refrain which I thought it deserved. In a day or so, Mr. Chisholm returned it to me, saying he didn't have the slightest idea as to the method used in writing words to music. I sent the material back to him immediately, telling him I believed God had led me to select him, and suggesting that he permit God to write the poem. Within a couple of weeks he had completed the writing of the words.
Thus the author, Thomas O. Chisholm (b. Franklin, KY, 1866; d. Ocean Grove, NJ, 1960), wrote "Living for Jesus" in 1917. Although he had little formal education, Chisholm served at various times as a teacher, editor, and pastor. He also wrote more than twelve hundred poems and hymn texts. Chisholm's accomplishments included being associate editor of his hometown newspaper, The Franklin Advocate, and editor of the Pentecostal Herald. He was ordained in the Methodist Church but served only briefly as a pastor in Scottsville, Kentucky, because of poor health. After that he sold life insurance in Winona Lake, Indiana, and Vineland, New Jersey. His devotional poetry and hymn texts were published primarily in religious periodicals.
His wrote his text to fit Lowden's tune in four stanzas and a refrain. Stanza 3 in the Psalter Hymnal collates phrases from stanzas 3 and 4 of Chisholm's original text. The text and tune were first published together in Uplifting Songs (1917), a hymnal compiled by Lowden and Rufus W. Miller.
This is a hymn of total consecration and dedication in which we commit to "living for Jesus" in all that we do (st. 1) and wherever we are (st. 3) in response to Christ's sacrifice (st. 2; refrain). "Living for Jesus" is well known in the Christian Reformed Church as the theme song of the Calvinist Cadet Corps, a church-related organization for young boys.
Liturgical Use:
Most often as a post-sermon hymn; also as a hymn of dedication or commitment at a suitable place in the worship service.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
Thomas Obadiah Chisholm (1866-1960) was an American songwriter who wrote several prominent Christian hymns.
Thomas O. Chisholm was born in Franklin, Kentucky on July 29, 1866 in a log cabin and became a teacher at age sixteen. Chisholm had a Christian conversion experience at age twenty-seven during a revival in Franklin led by Dr. Henry Clay Morrison. Chisholm served as a Methodist minister for one-year before resigning due to poor health. Chisholm wrote over 1,200 sacred poems over his lifetime, which appeared in many Christian periodicals, and he served as an editor of the Pentecostal Herald in Louisville for a period. In 1909 Chisholm began his career as a life insurance agent in Winona Lake and Vineland, New Jersey. In 1923 at age f… Go to person page >
