Mrs. Oswald Chambers
The Woman Behind 'My Utmost for His Highest'
Eyes on Christ | Vol. 18, Issue 27 | June 18, 2025 | Ordinary Time (After Pentecost)
A Love Story
What verse do you think lies behind one of the most remarkable love stories between a man and a woman and resulted in a devotional that millions around the world still use?
It’s an unlikely verse from the Book of Revelation and here it is in a modern version:
Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me. Revelation 3: 20 ISV
And the devotional is: My Utmost For His Highest
Shut out every other consideration and keep yourself before God for this one thing only — My Utmost for His Highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and for Him alone. - Oswald Chambers
Our Daily Bread Ministries is now the publisher of Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest (Utmost) and its editions.
I’ve already pointed out in the Daily Classic Devotionals, Utmost is one of the most popular devotionals that I know of especially among pastors and often recommended as a great resource for those facing spiritual challenges.
Utmost was published in the UK in 1927 by Oswald Chambers’ widow, Biddy Chambers, and first published in America by Dodd, Mead & Co. in 1935.
Oswald Chambers wasn’t a traditional pastor. He was a Scottish Baptist evangelist and Bible teacher who founded and served as principal of the Bible Training College in London from 1911 to 1915. During World War I, he served as a YMCA chaplain to British Commonwealth troops in Egypt, where he ministered as a counselor, pastor, and teacher to soldiers. His untimely death in Egypt in 1917, at the young age of 43, left his wife a penniless widow with a 4-year old child and a determination to remain steadfast to the promise they’d both given God: not just to each other but to place God’s call at the top.
The devotional was compiled from Biddy’s notes of his sermons. Utmost has sold over 13 million copies worldwide, translated into 39 languages, and since it was first released, it has never been out of print.
Are you wondering: Who is this woman? What’s the story here?
Mrs. Oswald Chambers
The Woman Behind My Utmost for His Highest
There’s a lot of facts and stories I could share but I’m going to cut to the chase here.