“2 Nephi 26: Seeing, Loving, and Treating Others as God Does,” Book of Mormon Teacher Manual (2024)
“2 Nephi 26,” Book of Mormon Teacher Manual
2 Nephi 26
Seeing, Loving, and Treating Others as God Does
Every day we are faced with messages and information meant to influence our feelings and perspectives. In 2 Nephi 26, Nephi taught of God’s perspective. This lesson is intended to help you see, love, and treat others as God does.
Helping students feel their contributions are valued. Show students you value their questions and comments by listening carefully and making a sincere effort to understand. Communicate your interest by focusing on what students say and not on what you are going to say next.
Student preparation: Invite students to ask their parents or a trusted friend how they try to see others as the Savior does.
Possible Learning Activities
Our perspective
Rather than displaying the following pictures, you could bring in different types of glasses for students to try on and then discuss how each changes their vision and perspective. Consider inviting students to share their personal experiences of wearing different glasses or corrective lenses and the difference it makes.
Examine the following pictures and think about how the different glasses impact our vision.
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How might these different glasses affect someone’s perspective?
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What are some things that affect how we see and treat others?
Take a moment to reflect on your perception of others. Think about what might be shaping your perspective and how this could influence how you feel about and treat others. As you study, seek for inspiration to know what you can do to see and treat others as the Savior does.
This lesson is intended to help you see, love, and treat others as God does.
The character of God
In 2 Nephi 26, Nephi saw the Savior’s ministry among the Nephites, as well as the wickedness and final destruction of his people. He also saw the wickedness of the Gentiles in the last days. In contrast, he then emphasized God’s care for all His children.
Consider the following three questions as you read 2 Nephi 26:12–13, 23–33:
Give students plenty of time to study 2 Nephi 26:12–13, 23–33, and consider inviting them to mark words and phrases that answer the following questions. Create a reverent atmosphere where the Spirit can teach. You could have soft music playing while you walk around the room, quietly asking students what they are learning, feeling, or marking as they study.
It might be helpful to display the questions as students read.
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How does God see and feel about His children?
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How does He demonstrate this?
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How does He want us to see and treat others?
After students study Nephi’s teachings about the character of God, invite them to share what they learned. The following questions, along with additional follow-up questions, might help encourage sharing. Alternatively, students could list on the board truths about God that they learned and then discuss the meaning and significance of these.
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What words, phrases, or truths did you mark that could answer the questions? Why?
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What did you learn or feel about the character of God?
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How might remembering these truths about God influence your relationship with Him? How might it influence how you treat others?
Students may have noticed a variety of truths about the character of God. Consider asking students why the truths they found are meaningful and praising them for their insights. The next portion of this lesson will focus on the truth in verse 33 that “all are alike unto God.” This will help students prepare to use this passage in the doctrinal mastery practice application in the following lesson.
Notice that in 2 Nephi 26:33, Nephi highlighted many different types of individuals by pairing them in contrasting groups. The following definitions may help you understand these better. You may consider writing these definitions in your scriptures by this verse.
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Bond: A slave.
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Heathen: Someone who does not believe in God.
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Jew and Gentile: A phrase referring to all who belong to the house of Israel and those who do not.
2 Nephi 26:33 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider marking doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so you can locate them easily. You will have an opportunity in the next lesson to practice applying the doctrine taught in this passage to a question or situation.
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What difference might it make if the world accepted and applied the teachings in verse 33?
Take a moment to reflect on your perspective, including the way you feel about and treat others, in comparison to God’s perspective and the way He feels about and treats others.
One way to help students compare how they treat others to how God does is to have students rephrase the questions that Nephi shares in 2 Nephi 26:25–28 to apply to themselves. For example, “Do I make people feel that I want them to depart from me? or to not worship with me? Or do I assume that they should not partake of the goodness of Jesus Christ?”
You might want to watch the video “We Don’t Need to Be the Same to Be One” (1:00), available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, reflecting on what the Lord might have you improve.
We Don’t Need to Be the Same to Be One
The following questions and paragraph can help students assess their feelings and actions toward others and then apply what they are learning. Students could record in their journal or discuss their responses to the questions.
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How might it affect you to remember God’s perspective and feelings toward all people?
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In what ways are you doing well at seeing and treating others like Heavenly Father and Jesus would treat them?
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How could remembering the teachings about the Lord in 2 Nephi 26:33 help you see, love, and treat others like God does?
During the next few days, try to notice how you see, feel toward, and treat others. Listen for promptings from the Holy Ghost and seek the Lord’s help to make any necessary changes to love and treat others more like God does.