Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual

Contents
Title Page
Introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual
Doctrine and Covenants Lessons
- The Restoration Proclamation
- Doctrine and Covenants 1
- Joseph Smith—History 1:1–26
- Doctrine and Covenants 2; Joseph Smith—History 1:27–65
- Doctrine and Covenants 3–5
- Doctrine and Covenants 6–9
- Doctrine and Covenants 10–11
- Doctrine and Covenants 12–17; Joseph Smith—History 1:66–75
- Doctrine and Covenants 18
- Doctrine and Covenants 19
- Doctrine and Covenants 20–22
- Doctrine and Covenants 23–26
- Doctrine and Covenants 27–28
- Doctrine and Covenants 29
- Doctrine and Covenants 30–36
- Doctrine and Covenants 37–40
- Doctrine and Covenants 41–44
- Doctrine and Covenants 45
- Doctrine and Covenants 46–48
- Doctrine and Covenants 49–50
- Doctrine and Covenants 51–57
- Doctrine and Covenants 58–59
- Doctrine and Covenants 60–63
- Doctrine and Covenants 64–66
- Doctrine and Covenants 67–70
- Doctrine and Covenants 71–75
- Doctrine and Covenants 76
- Doctrine and Covenants 77–80
- Doctrine and Covenants 81–83
- Doctrine and Covenants 84
- Doctrine and Covenants 85–87
- Doctrine and Covenants 88
- Doctrine and Covenants 89–92
- Doctrine and Covenants 93
- Doctrine and Covenants 94–97
- Doctrine and Covenants 98–101
- Doctrine and Covenants 102–105
- Doctrine and Covenants 106–108
- Doctrine and Covenants 109–110
- Doctrine and Covenants 111–114
- Doctrine and Covenants 115–120
- Doctrine and Covenants 121–123
- Doctrine and Covenants 124
- Doctrine and Covenants 125–128
- Doctrine and Covenants 129–132
- Doctrine and Covenants 133–134
- Doctrine and Covenants 135–136
- Doctrine and Covenants 137–138
- The Articles of Faith and Official Declarations 1 and 2
- The Family: A Proclamation to the World
- The Living Christ
Life Preparation Lessons
- Doctrinal Mastery: Finding Answers to My Questions
- Scripture Study Skills
- For the Strength of Youth: Making Choices
- Building Self-Reliance
- Physical and Emotional Health
- Preparing for Future Education and Employment
- Succeeding in School
- Missionary Preparation
- Temple Preparation
- Teachings of Church Leaders
Appendix

Lesson 77—Doctrine and Covenants 64:1–17: “Required to Forgive”

“Lesson 77—Doctrine and Covenants 64:1–17: ‘Required to Forgive,’” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual (2025)

“Doctrine and Covenants 64:1–17,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual

Lesson 77: Doctrine and Covenants 64–66

Doctrine and Covenants 64:1–17

“Required to Forgive”

During a trip from Missouri to Ohio, Joseph Smith and others experienced contention and bad feelings toward one another. In Doctrine and Covenants 64, Jesus Christ instructed them about their need to forgive. This lesson can help students follow Jesus Christ’s example and become more forgiving.

Possible Learning Activities

Reflecting on forgiveness

Do you consider yourself to be a forgiving person? Why or why not?
Why do you think Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want you to forgive others?
Who is someone you need to forgive?

Invite students to seek personal revelation to know who they may need to forgive and what they can do to extend forgiveness.

Jesus Christ is forgiving

Consider inviting a student to read the following context for Doctrine and Covenants 64.

In August 1831, after dedicating Zion in Missouri, Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Isaac Morley, Ezra Booth, and others were returning home to Ohio. Extreme heat, dangerous traveling conditions, and disagreements with leadership led the group to criticize and quarrel with one another. After they arrived home, tension still lingered between them (see Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, vol. 1, The Standard of Truth, 1815–1846 [2018], 133–34, 136–37). In response to their experience, the Lord gave the revelation now known as Doctrine and Covenants 64.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 64:1–7, looking for how Jesus Christ responded to those who had sinned.

Consider displaying an image of the Savior. Ask students to ponder the following questions. Afterward, invite students to share their thoughts with the class or a partner.

What attributes of Jesus Christ do you find in these verses?
Which of these attributes are you most grateful for? Why?

We are required to forgive

Read Doctrine and Covenants 64:9–11, looking for how Jesus Christ invites us to follow His example.

Doctrine and Covenants 64:9–11 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider inviting students to mark doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so they can locate them easily.

What stands out to you about what the Savior taught Joseph and the others?

Help students identify the truth that Jesus Christ requires us to forgive all people. Consider writing this truth on the board. You can also invite students to write it in their scriptures.

Take sufficient time to help students understand verses 9–11. Some of the following questions can help.
Why do you think Jesus Christ requires us to forgive everyone?
Why do you think we have “the greater sin” (verse 9) when we choose not to forgive others?
How do you think saying in our hearts “let God judge between me and thee” (verse 11) can help us forgive others?

What Christlike attributes will forgiving others help you develop?

Learning how to forgive others

Consider giving students time to ask questions or share challenges related to forgiveness. Students could respond to the following questions on the board, via an anonymous polling feature, or on pieces of paper that can be shared with the class.

What questions might people have as they seek to forgive others?
What challenges might people face as they try to follow the Savior’s example to forgive?

Students may ask questions like “How can the Savior help me forgive others?” or “Does forgiving others mean I need to be hurt again?”

Invite students to select a question as a class or individually. Then have them search divinely appointed sources for answers.

Students could find answers by searching words like “Jesus,” “forgive,” “Savior,” and “mercy” in the Gospel Library app or the Guide to the Scriptures. You could also provide scriptures, such as Matthew 5:7; 18:21–35; and Mosiah 26:30–31, and the prophetic statements listed below.

Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught how Jesus Christ can help us forgive others:

13:21

Sometimes our willingness to forgive someone else enables both them and us to believe we can repent and be forgiven. Sometimes a willingness to repent and an ability to forgive come at different times. Our Savior is our Mediator with God, but He also helps bring us to ourselves and each other as we come to Him. Especially when hurt and pain are deep, repairing our relationships and healing our hearts is hard, perhaps impossible for us on our own. But heaven can give us strength and wisdom beyond our own to know when to hold on and how to let go. (Gerrit W. Gong, “Happy and Forever,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 85)

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

16:12

“Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven” [Luke 6:37], Christ taught in New Testament times. And in our day: “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” [Doctrine and Covenants 64:10]. It is, however, important for some of you living in real anguish to note what He did not say. He did not say, “You are not allowed to feel true pain or real sorrow from the shattering experiences you have had at the hand of another.” Nor did He say, “In order to forgive fully, you have to reenter a toxic relationship or return to an abusive, destructive circumstance.” But notwithstanding even the most terrible offenses that might come to us, we can rise above our pain only when we put our feet onto the path of true healing. That path is the forgiving one walked by Jesus of Nazareth, who calls out to each of us, “Come, follow me” [Luke 18:22]. (Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Ministry of Reconciliation,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 78–79)

Consider inviting students to share answers they find or impressions they feel about forgiveness. They can also share examples of how they have been blessed by following the Savior’s example to forgive others. Remind students not to share any experiences or details that are too personal.

What specific actions can we take that will help us forgive others?

Potential answers students might share include the following:

Study accounts of the Savior and others extending forgiveness
Ponder how our lives would be different if we extended forgiveness
Offer a sincere prayer in which we give our burden to God and ask for His help to forgive others
Acknowledge that through Jesus Christ, our hearts can change over time so we can eventually forgive others

Personal application

Earlier in the lesson, students were invited to think of someone they need to forgive. Invite them to reflect on that situation and to seek inspiration as they answer the following questions.

Ponder the following questions and consider writing your thoughts or feelings in your study journal.

What can you do to rely on the Savior to forgive?
What efforts will you make to follow Jesus Christ’s example and become more forgiving?

Memorize

You may want to help students memorize the doctrinal mastery reference and key scripture phrase during this lesson and review them in future lessons. The key scripture phrase is “Of you it is required to forgive all men.” Ideas for memorization activities are in the appendix under “Doctrinal Mastery Review Activities.”

Additional Resources

Doctrine and Covenants 64:9–11. How does forgiving others help me become like Jesus Christ?

President Russell M. Nelson taught:

17:18

It can be painfully difficult to let go of anger that feels so justified. It can seem impossible to forgive those whose destructive actions have hurt the innocent. And yet, the Savior admonished us to “forgive all men” [Doctrine and Covenants 64:10; see also verse 9].

We are followers of the Prince of Peace. Now more than ever, we need the peace only He can bring. How can we expect peace to exist in the world when we are not individually seeking peace and harmony? Brothers and sisters, I know what I’m suggesting is not easy. But followers of Jesus Christ should set the example for all the world to follow. I plead with you to do all you can to end personal conflicts that are currently raging in your hearts and in your lives. (Russell M. Nelson, “The Power of Spiritual Momentum,” Liahona, May 2022, 97)

Doctrine and Covenants 64:9. How can the Savior help me become a more forgiving person?

Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated:

13:21

We are less alone when we realize we are not alone. Our Savior always understands. With our Savior’s help, we can surrender our pride, our hurts, our sins to God. However we may feel as we begin, we become more whole as we trust Him to make our relationships whole.

The Lord, who sees and understands perfectly, forgives whom He will; we (being imperfect) are to forgive all. As we come to our Savior, we focus less on ourselves. We judge less and forgive more. Trusting His merits, mercy, and grace [see 2 Nephi 2:8] can free us from contention, anger, abuse, abandonment, unfairness, and the physical and mental challenges that sometimes come with a physical body in a mortal world. Happy and forever do not mean that every relationship will be happy and forever. But a thousand millennial years when Satan is bound may give us needed time and surprising ways to love, understand, and work things out as we prepare for eternity. (Gerrit W. Gong, “Happy and Forever,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 85)

Doctrine and Covenants 64:9. What are some blessings of forgiving others?

Elder Kevin R. Duncan of the Seventy said:

9:51

Gratefully, God, in His love and mercy for His children, has prepared a way to help us navigate these sometimes turbulent experiences of life. He has provided an escape for all who fall victim to the misdeeds of others. He has taught us that we can forgive! Even though we may be a victim once, we need not be a victim twice by carrying the burden of hate, bitterness, pain, resentment, or even revenge. We can forgive, and we can be free! (Kevin R. Duncan, “The Healing Ointment of Forgiveness,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 33)

Doctrine and Covenants 64:10. Who do I need to forgive?

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, then of the First Presidency, stated:

16:47

Our Savior has spoken so clearly on this subject that there is little room for private interpretation. “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive,” but then He said, “… of you it is required to forgive all men” [Doctrine and Covenants 64:10; emphasis added].

May I add a footnote here? When the Lord requires that we forgive all men, that includes forgiving ourselves. Sometimes, of all the people in the world, the one who is the hardest to forgive—as well as perhaps the one who is most in need of our forgiveness—is the person looking back at us in the mirror. (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Merciful Obtain Mercy,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 75)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Stories of forgiveness

Consider sharing one or more of these stories throughout the lesson. You could share one at the beginning of the lesson and invite students to reflect on their own need to forgive others. Or share one of the stories as a way to address students’ questions or concerns. You could ask students to identify the challenges these people faced as they forgave others and how the Savior helped them.

“Required to Forgive” (7:52) is the story of Joseph Smith extending forgiveness to William W. Phelps.

2:3

“We Must Forgive” (2:43) is the story of Corrie ten Boom, a Holocaust survivor, who met with a guard from the Nazi camp where she was imprisoned. This story was shared by Bishop Keith B. McMullin, formerly of the Presiding Bishopric.

2:3

In his address “The Healing Power of Forgiveness,” from time code 0:00 to 6:03, President James E. Faust (1920–2007) of the First Presidency shared the Amish people’s response after a school shooting in their community.

15:40

In his address “Happy and Forever,” from time code 2:45 to 4:22, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared the story of a woman who forgave her father and completed his temple work.

13:21

Misconceptions and tips for forgiving others

The article “Forgiving Others: Misconceptions and Tips” could help students find answers to their questions and concerns (Elizabeth Lloyd Lund, Ensign, Apr. 2018, 18–21).

Learning about forgiveness from the Savior’s attributes and example

To help students discover more about the Christlike attribute of forgiveness, invite them to search the following accounts of the Savior forgiving others. Students could share ways they might follow the Savior’s example as they strive to become more forgiving.

Students could also read the following passages and identify attributes of Jesus Christ that could help them become more forgiving.