Consecrate the Heart to Jesus

By Archdeacon Habib Guirgus

You are not your own. Rather, you are for God, who created you and made you as you are. All that you have, all that is within you, and all that is for you - they are all from God. So it is only reasonable to live for His glory.

The One, who created you, wants you. The One, who made you, calls for your heart. So consecrate yourself and give Him your heart. St. Paul the apostle said: "You are not your own... For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body" (I Corinthians 6:19, 20).

Consecrate your heart for Jesus, especially during your young age, so you may rejoice and be glad for the rest of the days of your life. You will be happy in your old age, for you invested for yourself a spiritual happiness, a calm heart, a tranquility of your conscience, and an overcoming of your lusts and desires. Whatever you plant at an early age, you will harvest the rest of your life.

For your sake the Lord was crucified.

For your sake He was humiliated.

For your sake He gave Himself up to shed His blood, so you may share His glory and become one with Him! How can you repay the Lord for all His benefits? (cf. Psalm 116:12).  All He needs from you is your heart, and He will not accept anything else, for it will not please Him.  He does not need your gifts, but He wants you. Hand your heart over to Him, for you are His creation, and if you give Him your own self, do not think that you are being gracious or doing Him a favor - for all things are His. But when you give Him your heart, you have given Him your "all": desires, thoughts, senses, mind, will, and every thing you feel or sense in yourself.
If you give Him your heart, He will not possess it, but purify it. Then you will progress in your relationship with Him, guiding all your thoughts towards Him.

This is the key to be blessed and happy. This is the interest of everyone who has a good relationship, and is united, with Him.

If He granted you Himself, is it hard to give Him your heart and yourself? Do not keep anything for your self, but rather let all things be to God alone.

Give yourself, and you will benefit abundantly with the great reward, that is, the Kingdom of Heaven.

Give yourself to God, and you will have God Himself.

In order to consecrate the heart to Jesus, you have to follow in His footsteps and behavior.  

Run a race towards His love and compassion, kindness and zealousness, meekness and purity.

To achieve this, your concept in this race has to be forgiveness of the trespasses of your enemies, and the remission of their faults towards you.

Your habit and custom has to be courage, honesty and fearlessness. You have to let the truth prevail, and help those who are vexed and in calamity.

In general, you have to have the Spirit of Christ if you choose to live for Him and not for yourself because "He died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for them" (II Corinthians 5:15).

When you consecrate your heart to the Most High, you are proclaiming that you are not your own, but the whole of you is His right. Thus, you have no right to claim anything for yourself: your thoughts, your mind, your will, your emotions, your desires, your body or any organ in it, your tongue, your hands, your feet, your senses (including your sight, your hearing, your sense of smell, and your sense of taste). Since you have denied yourself, forgot all that belongs to you, and became for God alone; then make Jesus alone your objective and your purpose forever.

Do not look, therefore, for happiness separate from Him. Make Him your Savior and the head of your faith, uniting with Him alone.

Rely on Him only. Let your own self be submissive to His will in all things, leaving your will aside.

He will deal with you according to His good volition - whether to cause joy or sorrow, loftiness or scale you down - as it pleases His will, for you became His, and chose to be submissive to Him in all things.

Let it be known that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and not for the gods of lust. Therefore, you have to use all your strength for the glory of God.

Use your feet to strive to do good and mercy.

Use your hands to do works of charity.

Use your eyes to look at the needy and miserable.

Use your ears to listen to the groaning of those in misfortune and disappointment.

Let everything in you be means to glorify God.

St. Paul the apostle said; "No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness" (Romans 6:13).

Let your memory be a signal for the Word of God.
Let our minds, thoughts, conscience, imagination, sentiments, and all the controlling forces in us be consecrated to God.