Lesson 206—In the Temple, We Covenant to Keep the Law of Consecration: Living the Law of Consecration Can Help Us Become Like God
“Lesson 206—In the Temple, We Covenant to Keep the Law of Consecration: Living the Law of Consecration Can Help Us Become Like God,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual (2025)
“In the Temple, We Covenant to Keep the Law of Consecration,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual
Lesson 206: Temple Preparation
In the Temple, We Covenant to Keep the Law of Consecration
Living the Law of Consecration Can Help Us Become Like God
Image
youth spending time at the temple
As part of the gift, or endowment, we can receive from the Lord in His temples, we make sacred covenants. One of the covenants we make with Heavenly Father is to keep the law of consecration. Endowed members promise to dedicate their time, talents, and other blessings they receive to the building up of Jesus Christ’s Church on the earth. This lesson can help students understand the sacred law of consecration, which we covenant in the temple with God to obey.
Possible Learning Activities
Following a recipe
Note: This lesson introduces covenants we make as part of the temple endowment ordinance and focuses on the law of consecration. Lessons in other seminary courses address the other laws.
Invite students to look up a recipe for something they might enjoy eating. Encourage them to find accompanying images of the results from following the recipe. You could ask students to search and report in small groups. If students are not able to look up recipes and accompanying images in class, you might display the following image and ask students how seeing the end result could motivate them to following the recipe.
Image
cake with topping
What have you made using a recipe?
How can having a picture or video alongside the recipe be helpful?
We make covenants with God in holy temples
Like a picture or video of a completed recipe, knowing the desired outcome of receiving our endowment in the temple can be helpful. As part of the endowment ordinance, we covenant with God to obey five different laws. Living by these laws is like following each important step of a recipe. The laws we covenant to obey in the temple help us become more like God and can prepare us to live with Him in the celestial kingdom.
Consider writing the following on the board (leaving out the words in parentheses) and asking students to write each of the laws we covenant to live when receiving our endowment in temples. If students need help, you could point them to 27.2, “The Endowment,” in the General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Law of (obedience)
Law of (sacrifice)
Law of (the gospel of Jesus Christ)
Law of (chastity)
Law of (consecration)
Write the following truth on the board: As part of the temple endowment, we covenant with God to live the law of consecration.
Invite students to share what they know about this law. Assessing the students’ prior knowledge can help you know what to help students focus on during the lesson. You could ask some of these questions again toward the end of the lesson to help students express what they learned.
What do you know about the law of consecration?
What questions do you still have about the law of consecration?
Encourage students to seek help from the Holy Ghost to understand the law of consecration and how preparing to make covenants with God in the temple can bless them.
Provide students with the following handout and invite them to discover what the law of consecration is and how living this law helps us become more like God. For additional information, students could look up Topics and Questions, “Consecration.”
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:
Image
Elder D. Todd Christofferson
The Lord’s law of consecration (see, for example, D&C 42:32, 53) … has an economic role but, more than that, is an application of celestial law to life here and now (see D&C 105:5). To consecrate is to set apart or dedicate something as sacred, devoted to holy purposes. True success in this life comes in consecrating our lives—that is, our time and choices—to God’s purposes (see John 17:1, 4; D&C 19:19). In so doing, we permit Him to raise us to our highest destiny. (D. Todd Christofferson, “Reflections on a Consecrated Life,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 16)
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
Image
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Sacrifice and consecration are two heavenly laws that we covenant to obey in the holy temple. These two laws are similar but not identical. …
Consecration is different from sacrifice in at least one important way. When we consecrate something, we don’t leave it to be consumed upon the altar. Rather, we put it to use in the Lord’s service. We dedicate it to Him and His holy purposes. We receive the talents that the Lord has given us and strive to increase them, manifold, to become even more helpful in building the Lord’s kingdom.
Very few of us will ever be asked to sacrifice our lives for the Savior. But we are all invited to consecrate our lives to Him. (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Our Heartfelt All,” Liahona, May 2022, 124)
Today, we live this law in different ways. For instance, we serve others, accept callings and assignments in the Church and do our best at them, and pay a full tithe and a generous fast offering. When we do what the prophets and the Holy Ghost direct us to do to build up God’s kingdom and help the needy, we are living the law of consecration. (“What is the law of consecration? How does it affect me?,” For the Strength of Youth, Apr. 2021, 31)
Based on your understanding of the law of consecration, how is it a blessing from God?
How do you think living the law of consecration can help us become like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?
What it means to live the law of consecration
To help students demonstrate what they are learning, you could invite them to do the following activity individually, with a partner, or in small groups. If students choose one of the first two suggestions, encourage them to include images or illustrations.
Use one of the following choices to create something that can help you explain important details about the law of consecration. What you create can also serve as a reminder as you prepare yourself to receive your endowment from the Lord.
Write two or three sentences that explain the law of consecration to a teenager. Include some examples from the scriptures where Jesus Christ or His disciples demonstrated living this law by sharing their time, talents, or other blessings with others.
Write a short article for the For the Strength of Youth magazine. You might choose to focus your message on helping teenagers who are preparing to receive their endowment from the Lord.
Organize a short role play or skit to demonstrate ways to live the law of consecration. Try to include examples that would be relevant to teenagers choosing to live this law.
Give students opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of the law of consecration by sharing what they prepared. You could invite students to report to the class, or they might like to share with each other in small groups.
Consider inviting students to share how beginning to live the principles of the law of consecration could already be a blessing to them and others right now. You might invite a class discussion by displaying the following questions and asking students to respond to one of them. You could also add your testimony to what students share.
What is something you learned today that can help you prepare to attend the temple and receive your endowment from the Lord?
How do you think living the law of consecration could impact your relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?