Jim Elliot – Early Life

One of my heroes is a man by the name of Jim Elliot. He was a missionary to the country of Ecuador that gave his life attempting to take the Gospel to an unreached tribe. The thing that I love about Jim Elliot is his passion and love for the Lord. He did not have the best methods or knowledge during his time as a missionary. But his passion and desire to get the Gospel to the world is unmatched. His life and writings show that he put God before everything else! His attitude and willingness to serve the Lord is something that I desire to have in my life. I am going to be writing a few articles about his life, and I hope they will be a help and blessing to you.

In some ways, Jim Elliot was a very average child, and in other ways, he was very different. Jim grew up in Oregon in a Christian family. He was taught to work at an early age and went to church and Sunday school every week. His father read the Bible daily to him and his siblings as well as praying with them. His parent’s desire was that they would grow up with a love for God and his Word. At the age of six years old, Jim trusted in Christ as his savior. He began to tell his friends about what he believed about salvation and preaching to them from the lawn swing. Missionaries around the world often visited his home, and Jim had the chance to be influenced by many different men of God.

Jim also enjoyed doing many things the average kid would do doing that time. He enjoyed tobogganing on Mt Hood and well as collecting stamps and building model ships and airplanes. He was full of energy and enjoyed life to the full. He was well known as an orator in high school and played on the high school football team. He worked with several of his friends for his brother’s garbage business and enjoyed camping and hunting as well. He was elected as the high school’s vice president in his senior year of high school.

One of the things that impressed me most about Jim Elliot’s early life was his commitment to God and his lack of fear about what his peers would think. He usually carried a Bible with him to school. During his lunch breaks, he would take time to read some of the Bible. He would pray and never missed an opportunity to talk about the Gospel with others at his school. He did not seem to care about what other students thought or tried to fit in. He had one focus, and that was to live for his God and spread his word to others. He knew that man’s favor would change and was only temporary but that serving God would bring eternal rewards.

I want to ask a few questions to finish this article about Jim’s life.
Do we live for the approval of others or for what God would have us do?
Do we make reading the Word of God a priority in our lives?
If you are a young person, have you decided to start living for God where you are at?