The Law of Consecration

I recently watched a presentation by Anthony Sweat, a BYU religion professor, about the law of consecration. I really appreciated the perspective he gave on the law of consecration and how we today so often misunderstand what it means. A common notion among members of the church is that the law of consecration narrowly means physically giving all of your property to the church. From that idea we tend to think that we therefore are not living the law of consecration today, or that we are somehow only living it partially. But the guide to the scriptures describes the law this way: “The law of consecration is a divine principle whereby men and women voluntarily dedicate their time, talents, and material wealth to the establishment and building up of God’s kingdom.” One church manual describes the law of consecration in these terms: “The principles of the law of consecration have not changed since it was revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. However, the application of those principles changes from time to time. The current prophet helps us understand how to apply these principles in our day.” Bruce R. McConkie in general conference said this of the law of consecration: “The law of consecration is that we consecrate our time, our talents, and our money and property to the cause of the Church: such are to be available to the extent they are needed to further the Lord’s interests on earth.” Clearly referring to the temple, he also said this: “We have made covenants so to do—solemn, sacred, holy covenants, pledging ourselves before gods and angels. We are under covenant to live the law of obedience. We are under covenant to live the law of sacrifice. We are under covenant to live the law of consecration.” Do we live the law of consecration today in the church? Absolutely and without equivocation.

               Of course, we do not live the law of consecration in the same way that some of the early saints did in the sense that we don’t literally give all physical possessions to the church. But we are asked to consecrate—dedicate—our lives to the Lord. Each day we seek to know what He would have us do and as we go forward and do those things His Spirit guides us to do, we are consecrating our lives to Him. Steven Harper suggested that the law of consecration is summed up in the first two great commandments: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matt. 22:37-39). If we truly love the Lord with all our hearts then we will devote our lives to serving Him, doing His will, and accomplishing His work. We consecrate our lives by serving others and seeking each day to be full of love towards all of God’s children. I love the way that this verse speaks about what consecration should mean for all of us: “And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord’s storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church” (Doctrine and Covenants 82:18). We should consider our talents and abilities as being offered to the Lord’s spiritual storehouse just like we might donate food or money to His physical storehouse. As we make covenants in the waters of baptism and in the temple, we are offering to the Lord our own talents and abilities to serve Him in His kingdom. Each day as we seek to emulate the Savior’s selfless service and do what God would have us do that day—symbolically telling the Lord “not my will, but thine, be done”—we are fully living the law of consecration (Luke 22:42).