The Law of Consecration
The final law you will covenant to keep as part of the temple endowment in the House of the Lord is the Law of Consecration.
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What is Consecration?
"To consecrate is to set apart or dedicate something as sacred, devoted to holy purposes" (D. Todd Christofferson, "Reflections on a Consecrated Life," Liahona, November, 2010). Living the law of chastity a commitment to keep your body holy and pure as a most precious gift to your eternal companion prepares us to keep the law of consecration where we similarly commit to give our whole self to God and his purposes.
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Why Consecration?
The Lord asks you to consecrate your life to Him. This covenant is the ultimate in Christ-like discipleship. Just as He has given His life as a holy sacrifice for us, we receive the fullness of His Spirit as we follow Him and give ourselves to Him. The more completely we are willing to consecrate ourselves to Him, the more completely we receive His power to overcome this world and acquire His attributes. In other words, the more we give ourselves to Him, the more His Spirit can live in us and sanctify and prepare us for exaltation.
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The law of consecration is similar to the law of sacrifice, but the two laws are not the same.
“To sacrifice means to give something up in favor of something more valuable…
"When we consecrate something, we don’t leave it to be consumed upon the altar. Rather, we put it to use in the Lord’s service. We dedicate it to Him and His holy purposes. We receive the talents that the Lord has given us and strive to increase them, manifold, to become even more helpful in building the Lord’s kingdom. Very few of us will ever be asked to sacrifice our lives for the Savior. But we are all invited to consecrate our lives to Him" (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Our Heartfelt All," Liahona, May 2022).
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You live the law of consecration when you use your time, talents, and resources to help build the Lord's kingdom. Consecration changes the way you see everything God has given you. When you remember that all things are His, you come to see His blessings as a sacred trust to be used by you for His purposes.
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Ponder:
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How do you think consecration might change the way you see the material means, time, and talents that you possess?
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How Can I Live the Law of Consecration?
The Law of Consecration builds on the Law of Chastity. When we commit to live the Law of Consecration, we are in essence saying to the Lord that we will strive to be totally united with Him, committed, and loyal in every way. We hold nothing back from Him. We will have no other God's before us. We are consecrated. Jesus Christ is our ultimate example of what it means to consecrate ourselves.
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The key to living the Law of Consecration is our attitude. Your service to God and His children is a gift you give freely. As you serve, you show gratitude to the Lord for the blessings He has given you. If you focus on yourself and what you are giving up it can lead to fatigue. But true consecration can empower us with God's Spirit. The difference might be between feeling like you have to do something and loving to do it. And the biggest difference might be in remembering who we are doing it for.
Ponder and Discuss:
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How might covenanting to live the law of consecration affect the ways you minister to others, share the gospel, pay tithes and offerings, serve in callings, and care for family members and others in need?​
“The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we ‘give,’ brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give! Consecration thus constitutes the only unconditional surrender which is also a total victory!" (Neal A. Maxwell, "Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father," general conference October 1995).
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Holiness to the Lord - How Jesus Christ Can Make Us Holy
Study:
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Ponder:
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What did the Lord say about holiness in those verses?​
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The Lord told Moses that the ground where Moses was standing had been declared holy (the Hebrew word qodesh = something declared as holy). Moses learned that day that he was not to bring the dirt from his shoes or anything from the world (from the profane) into the holy place. Other things or places that have been declared holy (qodesh) include the Sabbath, and the house of the Lord.
Study:
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Ponder:
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What did the Lord say about holiness in these verses?
As we begin to live a consecrated life we learn that our bodies and our lives are God's holy temple and just like Moses, we ought not to bring worldly things into our lives. In the verses you just studied, the Lord spoke of holiness in a different way than He did about the ground where Moses was standing. Here, He said that, "ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy." The word holy here is the Hebrew word qadosh, which is not something that is declared holy (like the temple or the Sabbath), rather this word describes something that is a source of holiness.
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As we live a consecrated life, because the Spirit of the Lord can more fully dwell within us, we can become increasingly sanctified. This is something promised to us iteratively as we make the covenant at the sacrament table each week. Remember the petition "We ask Thee in the name of Thy Son to bless and sanctify this bread (or water) to the souls of all those that partake (or drink) of it"? As we partake of the sacrament we renew all of our covenants with the Lord, including the covenant to give ourselves to Him completely through consecration. And as we keep that covenant, through a lifelong process, we become sanctified by the Holy Ghost. We repent and give our sins to the Savior, holding back nothing in our sincere repentance and service to Him. And He gives to us His holiness, holding back nothing from us, until we like Him have become a source of Holiness, "a fountain of living waters springing up unto everlasting life."
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“True success in this life comes in consecrating our lives—that is, our time and choices—to God’s purposes (see John 17:1, 4; Doctrine and Covenants 19:19). In so doing, we permit Him to raise us to our highest destiny" (D. Todd Christofferson, "Reflections on a Consecrated Life," general conference, October 2010).
Learning Activity:
Describe in your own words what it means for you to live a consecrated life or obey the law of consecration.
How might living the law of consecration allow the Savior to make you more holy (more like Him)?