Spiritual Consecration

In institute last week, the topic was the Spiritual Law of Consecration. Our teacher gave us an article to study. It was "Becoming a Disciple", by Elder Neal A Maxwell, from the June 1996 Ensign.

Since then, I've been thinking a lot about this talk and what it means to become a disciple of Jesus Christ by spiritually consecrating myself to him. (Anything in quotes is from the above article unless otherwise noted.)

1. "When Jesus took upon Himself the heavy, atoning yoke in order to redeem all mankind by paying the agonizing price for our sins, He thereby experienced what He Himself termed the 'fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God' (D&C 76:107)." Jesus asked if the burden could be taken away, but in the end, he submitted to the will of the Father in all things, suffering even more than we can comprehend.
   
   "So the taking of Jesus' yoke upon us constitutes serious discipleship... In this precious process, the more we do what Jesus did--allow our wills to be 'swallowed up in the will of the Father'--the more we will learn of Jesus (Mosiah 15:7)."
   
2. "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." (Mosiah 4:19) This is what Christ did when he atoned for our sins. This is what we must do in order to become a true disciple.
   
3. One student in my class expressed the idea that Christ set aside his godhood to take on mortality, to become more like us, to experience what we experience. As his disciples, we must set aside our natural man to take on godliness, to become more like Christ.
   
4. "One can come to that point where one knows that he or she pleases God." In the lesson I taught in Relief Society a couple weeks ago, I asked the question, "What will we say when we stand before the judgement seat of Christ to account for how we filled our responsibilities on earth?" One sister suggested, "Sorry?" If we know that we please God, we won't need to say sorry. We would have that confidence and peace that comes from knowing that God is happy with what we have done.
   
5. "One cannot improve upon the sobering words of King Benjamin, who said, 'Now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them' (Mosiah 4:10). Such is still the test. Deeds, not words--and becoming, not describing--are dominant in true discipleship."
   
   Just as Naomi Randall was asked to change the words to her song, "I am a Child of God" from "teach me all that I must know" to "teach me all that I must do", doing is more important than simply knowing.
   
6. "A vital, personal question for each of us, therefore, is, Are we steadily becoming what gospel doctrines are designed to help us become?"Are we getting everything out of the program that we should be getting? Or are we standing on the sidelines watching, but not fully participating?
   
7. "Of necessity, this process requires the cross of discipleship to be taken up daily--not occasionally or seasonally." Elder Maxwell pointed out that this is work. It takes effort, and we have limited time on this earth in which to do it. So we should get busy!
   
8. "Being concerned with tomorrow, true disciples are very careful about today!... So it is that discipleship, far from being ascetic, is to choose joy over pleasure. It is to opt for the things of eternity over the trendy and appealing things of the moment." "Deny yourselves of all ungodliness." (Moroni 10:32) What things should we be setting aside in order to focus more completely on what God would like us to be doing?
   
9. "Jesus' aim is to lift us up, not to put people down." Can you imagine Jesus criticizing or demeaning anyone? or putting others down to make himself feel better? What would the world be like if everyone in it strove to lift others, and not to put them down? How much more pleasant would my own home be if this were each family member's goal?
   
10. "Comparing what we are with what we have the power to become should give us great spiritual hope... It is left to each of us to balance contentment regarding what God has allotted to us in life with some divine discontent resulting from what we are in comparison to what we have the power to become." I am a child of God, with the potential to inherit all that my Father has. I have been blessed with many talents and skills and a great desire to live righteously, but I realize that I still have a distance to go before I will become all that I desire to be.
    
11. "Given the imperfections of all of us in the Church, offenses will come and disappointments will occur. How we handle these is crucial. We must be quick to prune any personal sprig of bitterness so that our wills can be truly swallowed up in the will of the Father as we put off the natural man." How many people have left the church and stymied their own progression because they were offended by something another church member did or said? Just as we should be trying to lift others, and not put them down, we should also not allow others to pull us down. We have been given agency! We can choose to act and become what we want to be, and not just react to others' treatment of us.
    
12. "Be assured that God is in the details and in the subtleties of the defining and preparatory moments of discipleship. He will reassure you. He will remind you... God is in the details of our lives. He knows us perfectly...He loves us perfectly. His only begotten son, Jesus, has invited us to 'come, follow me.' In a real and majestic sense, each of us has been called to serve in His holy discipleship." 

In a Conference Talk given in October 1995, Entitled, "Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father", Elder Maxwell talked on the same theme. Two things from that talk that stood out were:

1. "Only by aligning our wills with God’s is full happiness to be found."
   
2. "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!"

I think that I need to review these principles frequently to remind me of what I should be doing, and where I should be heading. I should be devoting all that I am to my Father if I want to reach the potential that He knows I have.