Consecration is a great topic in the Bible.
1. “The love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this, that One died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all that those who live may no longer live to themselves but to Him who died for them and has been raised” (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
Every consecrated believer is motivated by the Lord’s love. We have a desire to consecrate ourselves because the Lord’s love constrains us. We no longer live to ourselves but to the Lord because we have been constrained by the Lord’s love. In the original Greek constrain means “to press.” The Lord’s love in our hearts becomes a great power pressing us to love the Lord and to live to Him. His love is like a rushing flood. We cannot help but consecrate ourselves to Him; we cannot withhold ourselves or what we have from Him.
Paul says that the Lord’s love constrains us because we judge that the Lord died on our behalf. If we consider how the Lord died on our behalf, we would be constrained by His love. We should take time to consider how the Lord suffered for us, bore our sins, and tasted death on our behalf so that His love could constrain us. We should consider His love in His dying on our behalf, especially when we break bread to remember the Lord. The more we consider His love, the more our hearts will be touched and turned to Him. The Lord’s love is the greatest love in the universe. Just as this love caused the Lord to die for us, it also causes us to live to Him.
2. “I exhort you therefore, brothers, through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1).
Paul exhorted us through the compassions of God to consecrate ourselves. Exhort may also be rendered as “beg.” The Holy Spirit within often begs us through the compassions of God, through God’s love, to consecrate ourselves to God. The love of God is a great power used by the Holy Spirit to move us.
3. “Do you love Me more than these?...Do you love Me?...Follow Me” (John 21:15-22).
Peter was called by the Lord to follow Him, but he backslid and returned to his old profession of fishing. When the Lord came to seek him, He did not rebuke or blame Peter. He only asked, “Do you love Me more than these?” that is, more than his boats, his nets, the sea, the fish, the coals, and the loaves of bread. It is as if the Lord was quietly saying, “On the night that I was accused, you went to warm yourself, and you loved a charcoal fire to such an extent that you denied Me before those people. When I hid My visible presence from you, you went fishing to make a living and did not pay attention to My command. You warmed yourself but were put to shame. You went fishing to get something to eat but came up empty. Now I have prepared a charcoal fire, bread, and fish. You do not need to expend any energy; you do not need to do anything. If you want warmth, here is a charcoal fire. If you want to eat, here are bread and fish. But I want to ask, Do you love Me more than these—more than the charcoal fire, bread, and fish? Do you love Me? Follow Me!” The Lord’s questioning in love touched and gained Peter. The Lord’s love caused Peter to follow the Lord for his whole life until he was martyred for the Lord and glorified God by his death. (According to tradition, when Peter was arrested for the Lord’s sake, he asked to be crucified upside down at the time of his death.)
In His love the Lord questions us in the same way. He often asks, “Do you love Me more than the world? Do you love Me more than your father, mother, wife (or husband), children, brothers, sisters, and friends? Do you love Me more than education, position, fame, family background, money, and life? Do you love Me?” Many have been truly conquered by the Lord’s loving questioning and have become lovers of the Lord, pouring themselves and all that they have on the Lord for His gain. Oh, who can stand before the Lord’s questioning in love? Who can resist the constraining of the Lord’s love? When the Lord’s love is revealed to us and works in us, we cannot escape. We can only consecrate ourselves and all that we have to the Lord. Once we are touched by His love, we must consecrate ourselves. This motivating power is not outside of us but inside of us. It burns like a raging fire that cannot be quenched.