"We tend to think of consecration only as yielding up, when divinely directed, our material possessions. But ultimate consecration is the yielding of oneself to God. 'Heart,' 'soul,' and 'mind' were the encompassing words of Christ in describing the first commandment, which is constantly, not periodically, operative. If kept, then our performances will, in turn, be fully consecrated for the lasting welfare of our souls."
"Such totality involves the submissive converging of feelings, thoughts, words, and deeds, the every opposite of estrangement."
We may have a specific set of skills which we mistakenly think we somehow own. If we continue to cling to those skills more than to God, we are flinching in the face of the consecrating first commandment. That first commandment is not suspended in the vigorous pursuit of a lesser good, for we do not worship a lesser god.
"Another stumbling block appears when we serve God generously with time and checkbooks but still withhold portions of our inner selves, signifying that we are not yet fully his!"
Becoming more steadily like Christ is the best way to testify valiantly of him and it is consecration that carves out the emulative character.
"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.'"
The greatest happiness in God's plan is for those who are willing to stretch and to pay the costs of journeying to his regal realm.