In the spring of 1831, Joseph Smith received a revelation. The Lord instructed the members of the Colesville, New York, branch to settle the Thompson, Ohio, area and to fulfill their stewardships by living the law of consecration. This lesson can help students understand how they can follow the Lord’s counsel to be faithful, just, and wise stewards.
Possible Learning Activities
An accounting of stewardships
To help prepare students to learn about stewardships, consider doing an activity such as the following.
Imagine that a parent asked his or her son or daughter to watch over a younger sibling for a few hours while the parent was away.
Why might a loving parent want an older child to experience this responsibility?
What expectations do you think a parent would have in this situation?
Explain that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ also entrust us with many responsibilities throughout our lives. These responsibilities can be referred to as stewardships.
Bishop Gérald Caussé of the Presiding Bishopric shared the following definition of the word stewardship.
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Bishop Gérald Caussé
In gospel terms, the word stewardship designates a sacred spiritual or temporal responsibility to take care of something that belongs to God for which we are accountable. (Gérald Caussé, “Our Earthly Stewardship,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 57)
What are some examples of stewardships God gives us in our lives?
Write students’ answers to the previous question on the board, or you could invite them to come to the board and write their answers.
If needed, you could use the following as examples: the portion of the planet where we live, our families, callings or assignments in the Church, our property and possessions, our bodies, our time.
After identifying these examples, invite the students to reflect on the stewardships they have in their lives by sharing the following:
In your study journal, write down some of the stewardships you have or what the Lord has entrusted to you. As you study today, look for truths that can help you become a better steward over the things you wrote on your list.
The stewardships of early Saints
To help the students understand the context of Doctrine and Covenants 51, read or summarize the following paragraph. You could also invite a student to read it to the class.
In the spring of 1831, many Saints began to arrive in Ohio after migrating from the eastern United States. One group came from Colesville, New York, at great sacrifice. This group was instructed to settle in Thompson, Ohio, and to live the law of consecration. The revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 51 contains the Lord’s instructions to the Saints.
Invite the students to copy the following chart in their study journals and to fill it out as they study Doctrine and Covenants 51.
Responsibilities of Bishop Partridge
Responsibilities of the Saints
Read Doctrine and Covenants 51:1–4, looking for what the Lord taught Bishop Edward Partridge about his responsibilities.
What responsibilities did the Lord give to Bishop Partridge?
As students answer, it may be helpful to point out that “appoint[ing] unto this people their portions” (Doctrine and Covenants 51:3) refers to the property and goods the Saints would receive as part of the law of consecration. Before continuing, it may be useful to invite students to share what they know or remember about the law of consecration.
If needed, explain that as part of the law of consecration, Saints would dedicate their property and goods to the Lord. Then through the bishop, they would receive property and goods as a stewardship to care for and use. Saints would also donate any surplus of what they grew, raised, or received to the bishop to give to the poor.
It may be useful for the students to know that the storehouse mentioned in verse 13 was where the bishop would keep food and supplies to care for the poor and needy.
What counsel from these verses may have helped the Saints overcome difficulties they faced in living the law of consecration?
What blessing did the Lord promise in verse 19 to those who were faithful, just, and wise stewards?
Invite the students to identify a truth that applies to their stewardships based on the Lord’s teachings in verse 19. They might identify something such as the following: As we become faithful, just, and wise stewards, we can experience the joy of the Lord and receive the gift of eternal life.
If useful, consider inviting students to take a moment to define one of the following words: faithful, just, or wise. Students can share their understanding, use the Guide to the Scriptures, or use a dictionary.
What might be some examples of the joy we might feel or blessings we might receive as we are faithful in our stewardships?
Examples of faithful, just, and wise stewards
The following activities can help students better understand what it means to be faithful, just, and wise stewards. Consider displaying the activities and dividing students into small groups to complete them together. If this activity is done in groups, be sure to appoint a discussion leader for each group.
Activity A: The example of the Savior
The Savior is the perfect example of being a faithful, just, and wise steward.
Ponder how the Savior has been a faithful, just, and wise steward over you.
How have the Savior’s efforts brought joy and blessings to you?
How might the Savior’s example motivate you to be a faithful, wise, and just steward?
Activity B: Stewardships today
We too are invited to follow Jesus Christ by being faithful, just, and wise stewards.
Choose a few of the examples of stewardships the Lord gives us that are listed on the board (or another example you thought of).
Describe what someone could do to be a faithful, just, and wise steward of these things. You might include examples you have seen or ways you have tried to be a good steward.
Why might the Lord want someone today to strive to be a faithful, just, and wise steward in this way?
How might their efforts bring joy and blessings?
Invite various students to share what insights they had from the discussions. Invite a few students to share scriptures they identified in Activity A that they found especially valuable or meaningful. You could also ask students to share what they learned from a classmate they worked with.
What you have learned
To help students process what they have learned in this lesson, consider inviting them to answer the following questions in their study journals.
What have you learned today about stewardships that you want to remember?
What can you do to be a more faithful, just, and wise steward in one area of your life?
For both of the previous questions, invite a few willing students to share what they wrote. Testify of the joy that has come to you as you strive to fulfill your stewardships from the Lord.