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 174—“For the Strength of Youth” Guide: “Truth Will Make You Free”

“Lesson 174—For the Strength of Youth Guide: ‘Truth Will Make You Free,’” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual (2025)

“For the Strength of Youth Guide,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual

Lesson 174: For the Strength of Youth

For the Strength of Youth Guide

“Truth Will Make You Free”

Heavenly Father loves and trusts the rising generation. He has provided prophetic guidance to help today’s youth develop faith in Jesus Christ and stay on the covenant path. This lesson can help students look to Jesus Christ when making decisions by using “For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices.”

Possible Learning Activities

The first two sections of this lesson are designed to help students learn more about For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices (2022) so they can better rely on Jesus Christ. The final section provides a learning activity focused on the section in the booklet titled “Truth Will Make You Free” on pages 30–33. Ideas to study additional topics from the guidebook are covered in other seminary teacher manuals. Decide which sections from this lesson and which topics from For the Strength of Youth will best meet the needs of your students.

Jesus Christ is the strength of youth

Consider writing the word strength on the board and inviting students to share who or what they think of when they see this word. Display an image of Jesus Christ, and discuss the following questions.

Why is Jesus Christ a good example of strength? How did He display strength in all areas of His life?
What are some situations teenagers face in which the Savior’s strength could help them?

Read “Message from the First Presidency” on page 2 in For the Strength of Youth, looking for how you can receive strength.

What do you think it means that Jesus Christ is the “strength of youth”?
How have you received help and strength from Him?

Making inspired choices

Invite students to do the following activity in their study journals.

List some of the important choices or decisions you may need to make in the next 10 years. Determine which of these choices will have the most impact on the rest of your life.

Students could emphasize the decisions they feel will have the most impact on their lives by underlining them. For the next question, they could respond silently by drawing a smiley face, neutral face, or frown face in their journals to indicate how confident they are about making each decision.

How confident do you feel about making these choices?
What resources has Heavenly Father provided to help you make inspired choices?

Students could share how For the Strength of Youth has helped them make inspired choices.

Read the “Make Inspired Choices” section on pages 4–5 in For the Strength of Youth, looking for what can help you with the choices you have now and will have in the future.

Consider putting students into pairs to study this section. Assign one student in each pair to study the first three paragraphs and the other to study the last three paragraphs. Invite them to mark meaningful words and phrases and to share what they learned with their partner.

After students finish discussing in pairs, consider facilitating a class discussion by asking the following questions.

What did you find that can help you make inspired choices?
How does what you learned influence your feelings about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?

Encourage students to regularly use the teachings and principles in For the Strength of Youth as they make decisions and strive to follow the Savior. Refer them to the graphic at the end of the “Make Inspired Choices” section on page 5, or display the following information to help them see how For the Strength of Youth is organized.

Each topic in For the Strength of Youth has three parts:

Eternal truths, or doctrine of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ
Invitations to act on those truths
Promised blessings that the Lord offers those who live by His teachings

Invite students to ponder any current questions or challenges they might need help with, especially as they reflect on important choices they will make in the next few years. Give them time to study For the Strength of Youth, looking for eternal truths, invitations, and promised blessings that can help with their specific concerns. Encourage students to record insights and impressions as they study. When they finish, invite a few to share what they discovered, but remind them not to share anything too personal. The following questions could help.

What did you discover or find helpful as you studied?
How can the pattern of learning eternal truth, acting on inspired invitations, and remembering promised blessings help you receive strength from Jesus Christ to make inspired choices?

“Truth will make you free”

This portion of the lesson focuses on the “Truth Will Make You Free” section on pages 30–33 in For the Strength of Youth. You could teach it in conjunction with the other sections or on its own.

Write advantages and disadvantages on the board. Consider displaying a smartphone, laptop, or other device with internet and social media access. Ask students to describe advantages and disadvantages of using the internet and social media when searching for knowledge. Invite them to list on the board reliable sources they know of and to share why it’s important to use these sources when searching for truth.

Read John 8:31–32, looking for what Jesus taught about truth.

What did you learn?
How does truth help us be free?

Consider organizing students into small groups. Distribute a piece of paper to each group. Invite them to think of a realistic scenario involving teenagers that relates to subjects in the “Truth Will Make You Free” section on pages 30–33. For example, the scenario could describe someone who doesn’t see the value of learning truth, someone who struggles to live with integrity, or someone who is scared about discussing their faith with others. After groups write out their scenario, invite them to trade papers with another group.

Invite students to read paragraphs 1–4 of the section “Truth Will Make You Free” on page 31 and to identify a principle. They may identify a principle like the following: Learning and living by eternal truths helps us become more like Heavenly Father and find peace and happiness in this life.
How can learning and living by eternal truths help us become more like Heavenly Father? How can Jesus Christ help you in this process?
When have you or someone you know experienced peace and happiness from living the eternal truths of the Savior’s gospel?

Ask students to write a response to the person in the scenario using the eternal truths, invitations, and promised blessings taught in the section “Truth Will Make You Free” on pages 30–33. Invite a few groups to share the scenario they received and how they used the information in For the Strength of Youth to help.

To conclude, consider inviting students to respond to the following question in their journals.
What changes could you make in your life because of what you’ve learned and felt today?

As students studied “Truth Will Make You Free” on pages 30–33 or other sections in For the Strength of Youth, they may have felt the need to make some changes in their lives. Invite students to search the section “Jesus Christ Will Help You” on pages 6–9, looking for how they can receive strength from Jesus Christ to change.

Additional Resources

How does the Savior feel about the youth of today?

President Russell M. Nelson declared:

My beloved younger brothers and sisters, you are among the best the Lord has ever sent to this world. You have the capacity to be smarter and wiser and have more impact on the world than any previous generation! (Russell M. Nelson and Wendy W. Nelson, “Hope of Israel” [worldwide youth devotional, June 3, 2018], ChurchofJesusChrist.org)

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles testified:

14:11

My dear young friends, if the Savior were here right now, what would He say to you?

I believe He would start by expressing His deep love for you. He might say it with words, but it would also flow so strongly—just from His presence—that it would be unmistakable, reaching deep into your heart, filling your whole soul! …

I believe the Savior Jesus Christ would want you to see, feel, and know that He is your strength. That with His help, there are no limits to what you can accomplish. That your potential is limitless. He would want you to see yourself the way He sees you. And that is very different from the way the world sees you. (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Jesus Christ Is the Strength of Youth,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 9)

How can For the Strength of Youth help me follow Jesus Christ?

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

14:11

When you have important choices to make, Jesus Christ and His restored gospel are the best choice. When you have questions, Jesus Christ and His restored gospel are the best answer. When you feel weak, Jesus Christ is your strength. …

To be very clear, the best guide you can possibly have for making choices is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the strength of youth.

So the purpose of For the Strength of Youth is to point you to Him. It teaches you eternal truths of His restored gospel—truths about who you are, who He is, and what you can accomplish with His strength. It teaches you how to make righteous choices based on those eternal truths.

It’s also important to know what For the Strength of Youth does not do. It doesn’t make decisions for you. It doesn’t give you a “yes” or “no” about every choice you might ever face. For the Strength of Youth focuses on the foundation for your choices. It focuses on values, principles, and doctrine instead of every specific behavior. (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Jesus Christ Is the Strength of Youth,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 10–11)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Scripture passages for each topic

As students learn about different topics in For the Strength of Youth, invite them to search the associated scripture passages for additional understanding. Students could then explain how the doctrine taught in these scripture passages can help teenagers better follow Jesus Christ and stay on the covenant path.

A decision tree

To introduce students to the topic “Make Inspired Choices” in For the Strength of Youth, consider inviting them to write down some important decisions they might make in the next few years. They could create a decision tree by choosing one or more of their decisions and drawing branches that extend off the original choice. This can help students visualize the consequences of their choices. For example, a student could select “serve a full-time mission” as their primary choice. Potential branches for that choice include “stronger conversion to the Savior and His gospel,” “more confidence talking with others,” “better study habits,” “increased love for God’s children,” and “greater joy and fulfillment in service.” After students create their decision trees, invite them to study the “Make Inspired Choices” section on pages 4–5, looking for truths and counsel to guide them now and in the future.