There are some books that you enjoy and others that you cherish because they leave a lasting impact on your life. When a book accomplishes both, then you know it is a book worth rereading and sharing with others.
One such book for me is A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot. Through this book, I learned about a woman who lived wholeheartedly for the Lord despite hardship and personal illness.
I was inspired because when I first read this biography for an undergraduate missions class, I was experiencing my own struggles with health. Her example encouraged me when I felt alone and defeated.
Every believer can learn from Amy Carmichael’s life, and I hope to highlight a few lessons that will challenge, strengthen, and encourage others.
Brief Background of Her Life
Amy Carmichael was born in Ireland on December 16, 1867. Around the age of 15, after a service at the boarding school she attended, Amy accepted Jesus as her Savior and Lord.
A couple of years after her salvation, Amy’s father, David Carmichael, died of pneumonia in 1885. The loss of her father was a challenging time for her and her family.
Amy devoted herself to her family, teaching her younger sisters and helping her mother. She also began working at the local YWCA and teaching classes at a church for the “shawlies” — young mill girls who lived in poverty, worked in factories, and dwelt in the slums.
Her ministry to these girls culminated in the establishment of The Welcome Hall, a place for the shawlies to meet, which eventually became the Welcome Evangelical Church.
During her ministry service, Amy Carmichael felt the call to missions and in 1893, she went to Japan. She served on the field for about 15 months but became ill and returned home. Soon, she found that her calling was to go to India, and it was there she served for the rest of her life.
After observing the temple prostitution of young girls in India, Amy Carmichael focused her missionary work on reaching these girls as well as boys who were also affected.
She began the Dohnavur Fellowship, which served as a place where the children could live, learn, and be loved. This organization exists today and continues the mission of helping those in need.
In the later part of her life, Amy Carmichael was bed-bound due to a fall and illness, and it was during this time she wrote many of her books.
She went home to be with the Lord on January 18, 1951. Her legacy continues through the impact she had on individuals, such as Elisabeth Elliot, and through the books she wrote.
1. Dying to Self
Far from viewing the phrase “dying to self” as a trite sentiment, Amy Carmichael knew the reality of the words.
She left behind family and close friends to take the gospel to Japan, and then to India. One of the most difficult partings she had was with her “Dear Old Man,” Mr. Robert Wilson, who was like a father to her.
She even took his name as her middle name, so that she was called Amy Wilson Carmichael. Being separated from her dear friend and other family members was painful.
Not only did she “fast” from family to become a missionary, but she also “died” to any personal plans about marriage. Although she struggled with loneliness, she committed her feelings to God and trusted Him. He was enough for her.
The Lord repaid her trust by giving her an unexpected family. She may not have gotten married or had children, but she helped to raise many children in Christ and built an entire family of rescued children in India.
Amy wrote that missionary life is not glamorous but “a chance to die” (Elliot, A Chance to Die, Revell). We can learn from her example and seek ways to die to self and serve Christ in our lives. Being a disciple is hard and will involve painful choices at times, as Amy’s life shows us.
However, the biblical truth that our old life has been crucified with Christ is reason enough to forsake our desires and plans to follow Jesus.
As Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” We can live for our Savior because He gave His life for us.
2. A Commitment to the Gospel
Another lesson we can learn from Amy Carmichael is that a disciple of Christ should be committed to sharing the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). She took great risks to share the gospel with others, regardless of ethnic or cultural differences.
While in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), she crossed cultural boundaries by talking to Buddhist priests about the good news of Jesus.
Similarly, she pushed boundaries and norms by attempting to reach people in the higher Brahmin caste, who would not typically associate with people of lower castes.
Underlying her decisions and actions was a firm conviction that the lost people of the world needed to hear about Jesus’ death and resurrection.
This conviction drove everything she did, including her decisions to adapt to the cultures in the way she dressed and lived. Amy wanted nothing to stand in the way of people hearing the gospel.
Do we as believers today have the same conviction? Numerous people groups around the world have not heard the gospel message.
All Christians should feel burdened for these individuals and seek to use their resources to bring awareness, support missions to unreached places, and prayerfully decide if the Lord has called them to go.
If we genuinely believe that Jesus is the only way to be saved, then we need to live out our beliefs and make disciples.
3. Love for Others
Amy Carmichael’s life also demonstrated the need to show love to others. When she was in Japan, Amy was surprised to learn that a fellow missionary did not agree with her belief that all missionaries love one another.
Distraught over this situation, Amy prayed that “the Lord would enable her to love as He commanded us to love” (Elliot, A Chance to Die, Revell).
This principle carried over to her work in India and she tried to instill it into her “children” at Dohnavur. She even wrote a small book titled If, which emphasizes living out Christlike love, which she called “Calvary love,” in everyday situations.
What Amy tried to do was follow the Lord’s instruction in Scripture. Jesus said that others would recognize His disciples because of the love they have for one another (John 13:35). Our love for others comes from God, who first loved us and sent His Son to die for us.
As 1 John 4:10-11 says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Love should be a characterizing mark of a Christian. All our service to the Lord will not matter if we do not have love (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). We can learn from Amy’s example and seek to love others just as Christ loves us.
4. An Eternal Focus
A final lesson we can learn from her life is the importance of aligning our motives with an eternal focus. When she was younger, Amy walked home from church one day with her siblings and stopped to help an elderly woman.
Although she helped the lady, she knew that her motives were misplaced. Not only that, but she questioned her motive behind her other acts of service.
At that time, Amy was convicted by 1 Corinthians 3:12-14, which talks about the importance of building your service for the Lord on the finished work of Christ — not on “gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw.”
From that time forward, she wanted her work for Christ to be of lasting quality, instead of doing works that would be burned in the testing fire at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Some of us might think of this example as extreme and fueled by fear. However, Amy Carmichael took her faith seriously and lived in the reality that one day she would give an account before her Savior. She sought to live with an eternal focus.
Scripture encourages believers to consider the truth that they will stand before their Lord and Savior in judgment one day (2 Corinthians 5:10).
This is not a judgment of salvation, but to evaluate the work they did, and whether the work merits reward or loss of reward.
Will we, like Amy, carefully evaluate our motives and work now to see if they will stand the test of the fire of the Bema Seat?
Keeping our focus on eternity is difficult, especially as we are enmeshed in everyday circumstances. However, what we do now matters, as do our motives. Let us live our days with eternity in mind.
Why Does This Matter?
Reading about the lives of Christians that have gone before us can help us grow in our relationship with the Lord. Though Amy Carmichael was not perfect, we can learn from her example and the way she wholeheartedly served Christ.
We should take note of the lessons from Amy’s life, including the need to die to self, spread the gospel, love others, and live with an eternal focus.
For further reading:
How Do Christians Actually 'Die to Self'?
How Validating Others Helps Us Love Like Jesus
3 Things to Focus on When Being a Witness for Jesus
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/beeldlab
