“Sharing Time: Comfort and Courage from the Scriptures,” Liahona, Sept. 2006, F4–F5
Sharing Time:
Comfort and Courage from the Scriptures
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1).
The Philistines and the Israelites were at war. Goliath, a giant Philistine warrior, challenged any one of the Israelites to fight him. A young boy named David asked if he could fight the man. David had great courage and faith.
As David went onto the battlefield, Goliath made fun of him because he was so young. David said, “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel” (1 Samuel 17:45).
David put a stone in his sling and swung it at Goliath. It struck Goliath’s forehead, and he fell to the ground.
Today there are “Goliaths” all around us. They are evil things that may tempt us—alcohol and drugs; inappropriate TV shows and movies; even laziness and selfishness.
President Thomas S. Monson, First Counselor in the First Presidency, said: “David went to the brook and carefully selected five smooth stones with which he might meet his enemy. … Just as David went to the brook, well might we go to our source of supply—the Lord. What polished stones will you select to defeat [your] Goliath?” President Monson suggests choosing the stones of courage, effort, humility, prayer, and love of duty (see “Meeting Your Goliath,” Ensign, Jan. 1987, 2–5).
We show courage when we do what is right. We show effort when we work hard. We show humility by relying on the Lord, and we pray to ask for His help. We fulfill our duty by keeping our commitments and our baptismal covenants. When we use these five stones and others, like scripture study and family home evening, we can defeat the Goliaths in our lives.
David and Goliath Dot-to-Dot
Connect the dots to make a picture of what David and Goliath might have looked like. Color the picture, and hang it where you can see it often. Seeing the picture will remind you to defeat your own Goliaths!
Illustrated by Beth M. Whittaker
Note: If you do not wish to remove pages from the magazine, this activity may be copied, traced, or printed from the Internet at www.lds.org. For English, click on “Gospel Library.” For other languages, click on the world map.
Sharing Time Ideas
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Invite an adult to portray one of the people of Alma from Mosiah 24:8–15. Have him or her bring a backpack and retell the story. Give the children a piece of paper, and ask them to write a trial or challenge children face today, such as immodest clothing, inappropriate media, and so on. (Younger children can draw pictures.) As the children share the trial, have them wrap the paper around a small rock and place it in the backpack. Pass the backpack to some of the children. Discuss ways Heavenly Father helps them with their trials. With each suggestion, remove several rocks. Pass the backpack again. Sing a song or hymn about the Savior. Explain that Jesus will always help us and comfort us.
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Invite two brethren approved by the bishop or branch president to come prepared to tell (1) the story of the Liahona guiding the ship toward the promised land (see 1 Nephi 18:8–22) and (2) the story of Lehi’s dream and the iron rod that leads the people to the tree of life (see 1 Nephi 8). Ask the children what the people had to do to show faith and receive guidance. What are the Liahona and iron rod of our day? Read Alma 37:44 and 1 Nephi 11:25 (words of Christ, word of God). How do we receive the words of Christ? Tell the children that you are going to give them music clues to answer that question. For each song, play the first few measures, and let the children guess the song and its message. The message will tell us where we must look to hear the words of Christ. Play songs about prophets, the Holy Ghost, and scriptures. Point out that we must do the same things to be guided today as did the people of Nephi.