Is it Scriptural to Sing “Jesus, You’re All I Need”?

Posted by Jimi Williams on Feb 14, 2011 | 1 comment

There are a bevy of popular worship songs that use a variation of the phrase “Jesus, You’re all I need”. I’ve even led some of these songs in worship. But is this a true Biblical statement to sing?

In Matthew 6, Jesus exhorts us to not be anxious (or not to worry) about what we will eat or what we will wear. He finishes with this encouragement, “For the gentiles (or pagans) seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”

Jesus didn’t say, “Don’t worry about those things. All you need is me.” The point of his lesson was not to discount our human needs, but to shift our anxiety for the things we need to trust in a loving and providing Father.

Jesus, in his humanity, understood that as long as we are alive on earth we will have needs. So when we sing “all I need is You, Lord”, we are not really making a true statement. We need food, shelter and clothing. We need love. We need encouragement. We need Christian community. Many people need a car.

So let’s stop lying to ourselves and everyone else about not needing anything but God; and let’s start singing about the God who meets all our needs and satisfies all our longings.

Here’s our set list from last Sunday with links to the songs if you want to listen to the original:

-Jesus Saves
-All To Us
-Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

Jimi Williams
Worship Pastor, The Bridge