"Because He Lives" - The Story Behind The Song

THE BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SONG "BECAUSE HE LIVES" HAS LONG BEEN ONE OF MY FAVORITES.   But, I will bet that most folks mistakenly assume this second stanza of the song is referring to the birth of Christ.  When, in fact, it is referring to the birth of Bill & Gloria Gaither's only son, Benjamin. 

As you will see in both the article excerpt below and in the video - they wrote this song as the decadent 1960s turned into the turbulent 1970s.  They had financial and health worries, the country was in a turmoil, and here they were, about to bring another child into such a world. 

But, once Benjamin came and they were able to hold him - God put the words of this stanza on their hearts.  This was the first part of the song "Because He Lives" which they wrote.  And, then the rest followed later.

"How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!"

This video is the Gaithers being interviewed by Mark Lowry about the writing of this song:

"Because He Lives" By The Gaither Trio 1972
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJgzd__SSBY

And this article excerpt will fill in some of the blanks:
 

The story behind “Because He Lives” .  .  .  In the words of Bill & Gloria Gaither the story behind the song:

We wrote “Because He Lives” after a period of time when we had had a kind of dry spell and hadn’t written any songs for a while.  .  .  Also at the end of the 1960’s when our country was going through some great turmoil with the height of the drug culture and the whole “God Is Dead”  theory which was running wild in our country, and also at the peak of the Vietnam War, our little son was born - Benjy (Benjamin).   At least Gloria was expecting him. 

And I can remember at the time we thought, “Brother, this is really a poor time to bring a child into the world.”  At times we were even quite discouraged by the whole thing.  And then Benjy did come.  We had two little girls whom we love very much, but this was our first son, and so that lyric came to us, “How sweet to hold our new-born baby and feel the pride and joy he gives, but better still the calm assurance that this child can face uncertain days because Christ lives.”

And it gave us the courage to say “Because Christ lives we can face tomorrow” and keep our heads high -  and hopefully that could be of meaning to other people.

It’s rather interesting now that, although we don’t consider ourselves as “old” writers, we’ve had many people tell us they have used that song at a funeral of a loved one; and it has been very encouraging to them, at a time when they were very discouraged.  So evidently a lot of people have shared the same kind of experience of being discouraged.    (https://austinbhebe.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/because-he-lives/)

I pray that this gives you a better understanding of the personal love which went into the writing of this beautiful Christian Gospel song, "Because He Lives."  And that, if it is not already one of your favorites, it will become a favorite as you listen to it being sung in a 1972 concert by the Gaither Trio, featuring Danny Gaither's beautiful tenor voice.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill