Each week in a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint ward, a different member of the congregation is invited to speak on an assigned topic. I was asked to give a talk a couple of weeks ago, and this is what I prepared. “Living a Consecrated Life.”
Unfortunately, the speakers before me took up all the time, so I was only able to give a quick summary of my key points. Now, you get to read everything I planned to share.
Living a Consecrated Life
When we speak of consecration, we often think of it in terms of material possessions. But do we ever consider that truly living the gospel of Jesus Christ is, in itself, a process of consecrating ourselves?
At its simplest, consecration means “to make holy,” and God’s plan of salvation is a model of that very principle.
God created this earth, which he described as “without form” (Moses 2:2). He then refined and organized it, making it habitable and beautiful for us.
Now, we are now here to be tested to “putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint,”(Mosiah 3:19) to live a consecrated life. In doing so, we are in the process of consecrating ourselves, becoming holy in preparation for Christ’s eventual return. At that time, both we and the earth will be further sanctified: the earth will once again receive its paradisiacal glory (Article of Faith 10), and we will receive our eternal glory.
Taking Our Spiritual Temperature
Regularly evaluating our personal consecrated life with a spiritual thermometer helps us identify the areas in greatest need of improvement.
Whether our spiritual temperature is hugging the bottom of the bulb– needing the application of serious gospel heat, or it’s so high that one more degree might bring us into the realms of translation, each of us can recognize areas where we can grow.
The classic primary and Sunday school answers are a great place to start: daily prayer, regular scripture study, church attendance, Sabbath day observance, paying a full and honest tithe, and attending the temple.
Let’s take a closer look at two of these areas.
Daily Pray
Let me give you a glimpse into my home life. Every morning, after I get ready and dressed in our bedroom, I head to the living room and place my shoes on the floor next to a couch. As I bend down to get my shoes, I also kneeling for prayer. Once I finishing praying, I hop up onto the couch, put my shoes on, and head out for the day. It’s become such a habit that I don’t even have to think about it, I just do it.
Daily prayer, even if it’s only once a day, opens the door to communication with the divine. Beginning the day with a prayer invokes blessings both seen and unseen throughout the day.
ComeUntochrist.org has an article entitled Prayer, which beautifully describes the power of this practice:
“Whether we pray aloud or pray silently in our hearts in fleeting moments of need, prayer is a personal form of communication where we can speak directly with our Father in Heaven. He knows each of us by name and loves us. He hears our prayers and He answers them with wisdom, empathy, and compassion. Sometimes those answers come in very direct, concrete ways, but other times they come more subtly, through impressions, promptings, or feelings of peace. We can go to our Father with desperate questions, with humble confessions, or with gratitude; we can pray to better understand Him and His plan for us.”
As we pray, receive answers, and act accordingly we consecrate our communications with the Lord.
In the April 2019 General Conference, Elder Brook P. Hales said:
“One aspect of that perfect love is our Heavenly Father’s involvement in the details of our lives, even when we may not be aware of it or understand it. We seek the Father’s divine guidance and help through heartfelt, earnest prayer. When we honor our covenants and strive to be more like our Savior, we are entitled to a constant stream of divine guidance through the influence and inspiration of the Holy Ghost.”
The scriptures teach us, “For your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him,” (3 Nephi 13:8), and He “knoweth all things, for all things are present before [His] eyes.”
Elder Hales continues:
“Brothers and sisters, sometimes our prayers are answered quickly with the outcome we hope for. Sometimes our prayers are not answered in the way we hope for, yet with time we learn that God had greater blessings prepared for us than we initially anticipated. And sometimes our righteous petitions to God will not be granted in this life.”
Scripture Study
Scripture study can quickly be swept aside in a world with never-ending entertainment and the lure of immediate gratification.
A couple of years ago, I struggled with this myself when I resolved to do my scripture study on my phone. Occasionally, right at the start of what was supposed to be my study time, my finger was drawn just a quarter of an inch to the left so I could catapult birds at pigs instead of reading the scriptures. And just like that, my scripture study was lost for the day.
Over time, this happened more and more often, until I finally had a moment of honesty with myself. I returned to using a printed set of scriptures, eliminating the distractions and temptations that seemed so readily available on my phone.
If your scripture study is lacking, here are two simple habit-building tactics to consider: first, set up a consistent time; and second, to make it a priority. By doing so, you begin dedicating your time each day to consecrating your soul.
The Lord declared in D&C 26:1 “Behold, I say unto you that you shall let your time be devoted to the studying of the scriptures”
He further stated in D&C 33:16 “And the Book of Mormon and the holy scriptures are given of me for your instruction; and the power of my Spirit quickeneth all things”.
I appreciate Elder Stephenson’s analogy from General Conference, where he compared the scriptures to a playbook. He said:
“In team sports, plays are developed for certain game situations and compiled into a playbook. Athletes learn their specific assignments for each play. Successful players study the playbook so thoroughly that when a play is called, they know exactly, almost instinctively, where to go and what to do.”
He continued:
“In a similar way, we holders of the priesthood (and all members) also have a team (a quorum or family) and a playbook (the holy scriptures and words of modern prophets).”
Then he asked a powerful question:
“How well have you studied your playbook?”
This comparison reminds us that daily scripture study is not just a good habit, it’s spiritual preparation. just like athletes train and memorize their assignments, we must come to know the scriptures so well that when challenges arise, we instinctively know where to turn and how to respond through the Spirit.
Primary Answers
It’s truly amazing that the simple Primary and Sunday School answers we learn as children are also the keys to living a consecrated life. It’s no wonder we begin teaching these principles so early in life, they form the foundation of a life aligned with God.
Elder Maxwell taught,
Only by aligning our wills with God’s is full happiness to be found. Anything less results in a lesser portion (see Alma 12:10–11). The Lord will work with us even if, at first, we “can no more than desire” but are willing to “give place for a portion of [His] words” (Alma 32:27). A small foothold is all He needs! But we must desire and provide it.
So many of us are kept from eventual consecration because we mistakenly think that, somehow, by letting our will be swallowed up in the will of God, we lose our individuality (see Mosiah 15:7). What we are really worried about, of course, is not giving up self, but selfish things—like our roles, our time, our preeminence, and our possessions. No wonder we are instructed by the Savior to lose ourselves (see Luke 9:24). He is only asking us to lose the old self in order to find the new self. It is not a question of one’s losing identity but of finding his true identity!
Those sincerely striving for greater consecration neither cast off their commitments nor the holy garment. They avoid obscenity, keep the law of chastity, pay their tithes, and love and serve their spouses and children. As good neighbors, they “bear one another’s burdens,” “mourn with those that mourn,” “comfort those … in need of comfort,” and valiantly “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places.” (Mosiah 18:8–9.)
“Increased consecration is not so much a demand for more hours of Church work as it is for more awareness of Whose work this really is!”
These so-called “simple” answers are anything but small. They are the building blocks of a consecrated life, a life of becoming holy, refined, and aligned with God’s will.
Image Credit: Cover- Dallas Golden
