Skip to main content

"Everything I Own" by Avery Stafford: Freedom Through the Nail-Printed Hand


Avery Stafford - Everything I Own (Radio Edit)

"Everything I Own (Radio Edit)" by Avery Stafford is a moving story that captures the essence of Christ's sacrificial love, a love where He literally gave everything for you and me. A song that was originally written in 1999 but only now released as a radio single. This Gospel/R&B track tells a powerful story of redemption through the lens of a slave auction. This musical allegory starts with the words, "Standing on an auction block, waiting for buyers to bid on the value of life." The question asked, "Can this be happening to me?" And then Jesus steps in with a final bid. This is where Avery zooms in on His willingness to pay the price, "I will give everything I own. Isn't your life worth dying for?"

That is the heart of the Gospel: Jesus willingly paid the ultimate price for us, and by doing so, He freed us with His nail-printed hands. Avery's vocals, together with this imagery of being bought out of bondage and his emphasis on the fact that each of our lives is worth dying for, really grabbed me. My summary of the song's message isn't a worthy alternative for listening to the song. I can tell you that when the songs ended with the words, "Can't you see Jesus gave His life for me?" it left me to think about what this means to me, and my thoughts quickly led me to feelings of gratitude and awe.

Avery's storytelling gifts really shine here, and I can imagine listening to Avery speak, since he is also the lead pastor for Common Ground Church in Oregon. This is such a powerful message for this coming Easter season. If you've ever doubted what your worth is, then I pray this song will remind you how much Jesus values you. Go ahead and give it a listen. It's definitely a must-listen on my playlist this week.

(Related scripture: 1 Peter 1:18-19; Galatians 3:13; John 10:17-18)

Connect with Avery Stafford

Would you like to hear more CCM music? Then check out our Christian playlists on: https://www.christiandance.eu/playlists

PS: Did you know that the posts we have on Christian Music Today also contain the backstories that artists have shared with us? Check it out on: https://christianmusictoday.eu/

Tags:

Popular posts

"A Love Song" by Seek and Surrender: The Three-Stranded Covenant

(By Jasper Tan) We always see people say "I love you" to someone, professing their love to that significant other. But we often see how a marriage united by love easily shreds to tatters, and we ask ourselves, "Why?" Where did it all go wrong? How did something joined together by love easily get broken and be accepted as "falling out of love"? But the biggest thought that comes to mind while listening to Seek and Surrender's latest song, "A Love Song," is: do we really understand what it feels like to love? In Seek and Surrender's song, there are countless lines in which the singer professes his love to his bride. It seeks to highlight the sincerity of his love, the magnanimity, the pureness. But in those lines, there's this line that we all should focus on —  "If Christ gave Himself for His bride, Oh, then I'll give myself for mine." Do we know how Christ gave himself for his bride (the Church)? He sacrificed himself w...
More >>

John Mayer's Secret to Writing Catchy Song Lyrics

John Mayer's Secret to Writing Catchy Song Lyrics by Kapa Freeman  Why are John Mayer's song lyrics so easy to remember? It comes down to human psychology. I am notoriously bad at remembering song lyrics, except for John Mayer's Songs. Other artists may write a song I remember here or there, but John Mayer does it consistently. Why? I discovered the reason when I was working full-time as a teacher. Teachers can always tell when they're losing students. When those eyes start to glaze over, when that one eyebrow raises in confusion and someone yells out... "I don't get it!"  I got those a lot when I first started teaching. Talking to other teachers, I soon discovered why. I was giving too much information at once. I would vomit these elaborate explanations, thinking that more information would help clear things up... But they just got confused. Talking to my teachers reminded me of lessons I'd learned while getting my teaching degree:  "People remem...
More >>

"If Jesus Could (Walk on Water)" by John Fumo & Robert Fumo: A Funky Call to Compassion

Have you ever considered Jesus’s actions as a benchmark for our own compassion? In their funky, soulful new track, John and Robert Fumo do just that. In their song, “If Jesus Could (Walk on Water)”, the brothers Fumo share how easy it is to be compassionate and loving in light of the accomplishments and miracles which Jesus performed. In other words, His incredible acts should make our own acts of kindness feel entirely achievable.  For example, “If Jesus could …walk on water,” the lyrics challenge, “then we can …love one another.” There’s more… If He could feed thousands with a few fish and loaves, surely “it shouldn’t be hard to keep the people fed.”   The song reframes Jesus’s acts into a call to action. Instead of seeing insurmountable problems, we are reminded that if Christ could “rise from the dead, // We could trade hate for love instead.” The song not only triggers a paradigm shift, but it also empowers. At its core, it reminds us of Jesus’s promise that ...
More >>