Consecration is a very important and complex spiritual act. Even if you have already heard of this term before, if it has not been explained to you in detail, you may not have understood its meaning well. Take a few moments to reflect on what this term means, so you can understand how to put it into practice in your daily life.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Understanding Consecration
Step 1. Understand the term “consecration” thoroughly
In a general sense, the term "consecration" refers to the act of dedicating oneself to a specific purpose or objective. To "consecrate" oneself means to dedicate one's life to something of the utmost importance.
- In a more literal sense, however, "consecration" refers to the act of preserving oneself and dedicating oneself to a divinity who, more often than not, is represented by the God of Christians.
- The term can also be used to refer to a priestly ordination. For most believers, however, it refers to a personal and basic act of commitment and offering.
- To "consecrate" something means to make it sacred In this sense, the act of consecration can be understood as the process of being made sacred.
Step 2. Reflect on the spiritual roots of this term
As a religious practice, consecration dates back to the Old Testament. In the course of a good half of the Bible there are several examples of consecration: even in today's Christian community, reference is often made to this practice.
- One of the earliest biblical references to the act of consecration can be found in Joshua 3: 5. After wandering in the desert for 40 years, the people of Israel are ordered to consecrate themselves before entering the Promised Land. When they obey his command, God promises to do great things for them and to fulfill the promises made.
- Reference is also made to the act of consecration in the New Testament. In the Second Corinthians, 6:17, God commands his faithful not to "touch what is dirty" and promises in exchange to welcome them into his kingdom. Similarly, Paul in the Second Letter to the Romans describes the need to consider one's body as an act of living sacrifice to God, preserving it solely for the worship of the divine and no longer for secular pleasures.
Step 3. Understand God's role in consecration
God calls humanity to consecrate itself to him. The possibility of consecrating yourself, therefore, derives directly from God, as well as the vocation that prompts you to carry out this action.
- All that is sacred comes from God and what is sacred is revealed to human beings only because it is transmitted directly from God. Only God has the power to transform an individual into something sacred: it is therefore possible to affirm that it is God himself who consecrates you., that is, to make yourself sacred, when you choose to consecrate yourself.
- As creator, God desires each person to live in his image and likeness. It can therefore be said that God wants to offer every person a sacred and, therefore, consecrated life.
Method 2 of 2: Consecrate yourself to God
Step 1. Dedicate your heart to God
Consecrating yourself means responding to God's spiritual call. It means making a conscious choice and deciding to dedicate your soul, mind, heart and body to God.
This decision must be based on an iron will, on a profound reasoning and a great love. Only you can choose to consecrate yourself to God. Nobody can and must push you to do so
Step 2. Reflect on your motives
Since consecration must be a voluntary choice, ask yourself if you are really motivated or if you are simply adjusting to external pressures.
- Only you and God can truly know your heart. Don't worry about appearances.
- Your commitment to Christ must be a priority, not a secondary option or a passive experience.
- You must feel full of gratitude towards God and overflow with love towards him. If your heart is ready to consecrate itself to God, you will be ready to love him with the same love with which he loves us.
Step 3. Repent
Repentance is one of the first actions to take when deciding to consecrate yourself to God. Repentance consists in recognizing one's sins and the need for salvation offered by Christ.
Repentance is a rather direct personal experience. When you feel the need to ask for forgiveness, it is enough to pray to God, asking him to forgive us and to remove future temptations from us
Step 4. Get baptized
Water baptism is the outward sign of a spiritual consecration. By being baptized, a new spiritual life is acquired, dedicated to the service of Christ.
- Take the time to regularly renew your baptismal vows, especially if you were baptized as a child, before you can make this decision on your own.
- There are several ways to renew your baptismal promises. Some religious groups, such as Roman Catholics, make use of the Sacrament of Confirmation, in which their promises to remain faithful and consecrated to God are renewed.
- However, it is possible to renew one's baptismal promises by reciting a creed of faith or by regularly praying to God, telling him about one's wishes and renewing the intention to be consecrated to him.
Step 5. Get away from the evils of the world
The physical body will always be attracted to worldly pleasures, but consecrating yourself means giving greater importance to the spiritual life than to the physical one.
- There are many good things in the physical world. For example, food is good: it provides the human body with the nourishment it needs to survive. There is nothing wrong with appreciating the food you eat.
- Even good things can be used for evil purposes. It is possible to ruin your body by overeating, especially if you eat the wrong foods.
- Denying the evil that exists in the world does not mean also denying the good. It only means that one must reject the negative side of worldly things. It also means that one must recognize that worldly pleasures are less important than one's spiritual life.
- From a practical point of view it means rejecting things that the world accepts and that, according to your faith, are wrong. It means following God's will in your life even when it seems to conflict with what in the world is taken for granted or even has a high priority, such as financial security, romantic love etc. These aspects of life, which are encouraged and appreciated in material life, can be good when used in service to God, but they are not to be considered more important than service itself.
Step 6. Draw close to God
Rejecting the world's evil is not enough to transform you: the human spirit will need to "drink" from a source. If you don't drink from a worldly source, you have to drink from a divine one.
- Just as the body is hungry, so too the spirit thirsts for God. The more you train yourself to satisfy the desires of your spirit, the easier it will be for you to continually turn to God.
- It is possible to take practical actions to get closer to God. Prayer is one of the most important actions. Praying at church every week and studying the Holy Scriptures are two common and very effective practices. Any activity that brings you closer to God, which makes him the most important point in your life and encourages you on your way to him, can be used as a tool.
Step 7. Remain steadfast in your commitment
Consecration is not a one-time decision. It is a way of life. When making the decision to consecrate oneself, one must be ready to pursue God for the rest of one's life.
- Even if you try in every way to get closer to God through consecration, you will never go through this process to the end. Achieving absolute perfection is impossible.
- Keep in mind that God does not ask us to achieve absolute perfection at all. You are only asked to commit and seek it with all of yourself. You will be able to fall on the way, but you will have to choose each time to get up and walk to move forward.
Advice
-
Understand what it means to consecrate yourself to Our Lady. Catholics sometimes choose to consecrate their lives to the Virgin Mary, but it is important to distinguish between this type of consecration and that to God.
- Indeed, Our Lady represents a prototype of perfect consecration. Even if Mary is not a deity, the Sacred Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus are in perfect union with each other.
- Consecrating oneself to Mary means dedicating oneself to one's faith and to the means necessary to achieve true consecration. The final goal is God, not Our Lady. The consecration to Mary serves to ask for her help in showing us the way to Christ.
