When I think of the law of consecration, the United Order is what comes to my mind. However, while that was an attempt to put the law of consecration into effect in the community – in the physical world – there really is much more to the law of consecration.
Tangible, mortal things do play a role in living the law of consecration. Elder Bruce R. McConkie defined the law of consecration, plus the law of sacrifice, as follows:
Sacrifice and consecration are inseparably intertwined. 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.
The law of sacrifice is that we are willing to sacrifice all that we have for the truth’s sake—our character and reputation; our honor and applause; our good name among men; our houses, lands, and families: all things, even our very lives if need be. (Conference Report, Apr. 1975, p. 74; or Ensign, May 1975, p. 50)
What more are we to consecrate? Ourselves. Our will. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). Since all that we have is given to us for a time by God, our will is all that we really have to offer anyway. By consecrating ourselves, by submitting our will to God’s will, we become saints, as the name of the Church tells us we are.
Being saintly is to be good, pure, and upright. For such persons, virtues are not only declared but lived. For Latter-day Saints, the kingdom of God, or the Church, is not a byline; rather, it is the center and the substance of their lives….
The Lord sets forth the way in which such progress is made. Said He, “Wherefore, seek not the things of this world but seek ye first to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness” (JST Matthew 6:38). (Keith B. McMullin, “An Invitation with Promise,” Ensign, May 2001, 61)
Though we can be living what I call the mortal aspects of the law of consecration – consecrating our time, talents, and money to the kingdom of God – without consecrating themselves, we are like the righteous man who came to Christ, but was not yet ready to take the final steps by giving away all (Mark 10:17-22). There is a bit of selfishness remaining. But if our wills have been “swallowed up in the will of the Father†(Mosiah 15:7), then we will also be living the mortal aspects of the law. I imagine the order in which a person first lives the law of consecration would vary, since fully living it is something that comes incrementally.
And we are not alone as we learn to live the law of consecration.
In pondering and pursuing consecration, understandably we tremble inwardly at what may be required. Yet the Lord has said consolingly, “My grace is sufficient for you” (D&C 17:8). Do we really believe Him? He has also promised to make weak things strong (see Ether 12:27). Are we really willing to submit to that process? Yet if we desire fulness, we cannot hold back part!
Having our wills increasingly swallowed up by the will of the Father actually means an enhanced individuality, stretched and more capable of receiving “all that [God] hath” (D&C 84:38). Besides, how could we be entrusted with His “all” until our wills are much more like His? Nor could His “all” be fully appreciated by the partially committed. (Neal A. Maxwell, “Consecrate Thy Performance,” Ensign, May 2002, 36)
But as we really live the law of consecration, we receive a wonderful return. “And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him” (D&C 84:38). An amazing promise.
Also, in case you haven’t read it, I like Orson Scott Card’s take on the law of consecration.