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 180—Building Self-Reliance in the Lord’s Way: Building Self-Reliance Blesses Us Temporally and Spiritually

“Lesson 180—Building Self-Reliance in the Lord’s Way: Building Self-Reliance Blesses Us Temporally and Spiritually,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual (2025)

“Building Self-Reliance in the Lord’s Way,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual

Lesson 180: Building Self-Reliance

Building Self-Reliance in the Lord’s Way

Building Self-Reliance Blesses Us Temporally and Spiritually

The Savior declared, “It is my purpose to provide for my saints. … But it must needs be done in mine own way” (Doctrine and Covenants 104:15–16). Jesus Christ helps His Saints build self-reliance so they can provide for themselves and learn to bless others as He does. This lesson can help students understand the need to build self-reliance in the Lord’s way.

Image

the Savior teaching

Possible Learning Activities

Self-reliance

Consider beginning the lesson by finding out what students already understand about self-reliance. You might write Self-reliance on the board and ask students to describe what it means and why it is important to strive for.

You could help them discuss what they know about self-reliance by displaying pictures of a meal of fish and some fishing gear. Ask students to discuss which picture contains the most helpful items for someone to build self-reliance in providing food for their family. You may want to display the two statements below as part of the discussion.

Image

fishing gear

Image

fish meal

President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) explained the value in learning to provide for ourselves:

Image
President Gordon B. Hinckley

There is an old saying that if you give a man a fish, he will have a meal for a day. But if you teach him how to fish, he will eat for the remainder of his life. (Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Perpetual Education Fund,” Ensign, May 2001, 52)

The First Presidency taught the following about self-reliance:

The Lord has declared, “It is my purpose to provide for my saints” [Doctrine and Covenants 104:15]. This revelation is a promise from the Lord that He will provide temporal blessings and open the door of self-reliance, which is the ability for us to provide the necessities of life for ourselves and our family members. …

Please be assured that you are a child of our Father in Heaven. He loves you and will never forsake you. He knows you and is ready to extend to you the spiritual and temporal blessings of self-reliance. (The First Presidency, in My Foundation for Self-Reliance [2016], 3)

What do you learn from these statements about self-reliance?

After the class has discussed the previous statements, consider inviting students to summarize their understanding of self-reliance to a partner. It may be helpful to continue to display the previous statement by the First Presidency for reference. Then invite volunteers to share their summaries with the class.

Be sure students understand that with the Lord’s help, we can build self-reliance to provide the necessities of life for ourselves and our families.
Why do you think building self-reliance is important to understand while you are young?
If someone feels overwhelmed at the thought of becoming self-reliant, what could you remind them about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that could give them hope?

To help students see practical ways that self-reliance principles apply to them, consider writing the following topics on the board: education, health, employment, finances, spiritual strength. Divide students into groups and assign one topic to each group. Invite students to discuss the following in their groups and then to share with the class what they discussed.

Answer the following questions based on one of these topics: education, health, employment, finances, or spiritual strength:

How would you describe someone who is self-reliant in that area?
How could a teenager start building self-reliance in that area? How could they invite the Lord to help them?
What are the benefits of learning to do more things for ourselves in this area?

Encourage students to pay attention to promptings from the Holy Ghost about how they can provide for themselves. Help students understand that even when they can do things on their own, they still need to rely on the Lord. It can also be appropriate to ask for help from others sometimes.

Self-reliance in the Lord’s way

To help students understand principles about self-reliance we can learn from the Lord and His servants, consider one of the following options:

Divide students into small groups, and distribute the handout “Building Self-Reliance in the Lord’s Way.” Each group could divide the scripture references and statements among group members to study. They could then share with each other what they learned and answer the questions together.
If students have the resources and experience to find scripture references and statements by Church leaders on their own, display the questions from the handout on the board. Invite students to search the scriptures and words of the prophets for answers to each question. One resource students could study is the Topics and Questions section titled “Self-Reliance.” This is available in the Gospel Library app and at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Building Self-Reliance in the Lord’s Way

Study the scripture references and statements below, looking for answers to the following two questions:

What has the Lord taught in the scriptures and through His prophets that can help us build self-reliance?
What obstacles might someone face that they will need Heavenly Father’s help to overcome?

President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) taught:

Image
President Ezra Taft Benson

The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature. (Ezra Taft Benson, “Born of God,” Ensign, Nov. 1985, 6)

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

Image
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The Lord’s way is not to sit at the side of the stream and wait for the water to pass before we cross. It is to come together, roll up our sleeves, go to work, and build a bridge or a boat to cross the waters of our challenges. (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Providing in the Lord’s Way,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 54)

Provide an opportunity for groups to share with the class their answers and insights they had during their study. They may also share examples of how the Lord has blessed them in their efforts to live principles of self-reliance.

The Savior developed grace for grace

Students may recognize that it can be overwhelming to try to build self-reliance in many different areas all at once. Explain that we can learn from the Savior’s example that building self-reliance takes time. Consider displaying the following picture as students read the following scripture passage.

Image

Jesus learning carpentry

Read Doctrine and Covenants 93:11–13, looking for what John the Baptist taught about the Savior’s development. (A portion of John the Baptist’s writings was revealed to Joseph Smith and recorded in section 93.)

If students need help answering the following questions, you may want to explain that continuing from grace to grace means improving little by little with divine help. You could have students read 2 Nephi 28:30 to help them see how we also need to progress “line upon line.”

What do you think it means that the Savior “continued from grace to grace”? (verse 13).
How can the Savior’s example of continuing from grace to grace help you in your efforts to build spiritual and temporal self-reliance?

Building self-reliance in your own life

Invite students to reflect on what the Holy Ghost may have taught them about building self-reliance. To help them reflect, you could display the following questions. Invite students to assess their current state of self-reliance by pondering or responding to the following questions in their study journals.

How confident do I feel in building self-reliance in different areas of my life?
Why is it helpful to begin developing the ability to provide for myself in these areas?
How can I involve the Lord in building greater self-reliance in my life?

Invite students to consider specific ways they might begin to build self-reliance in their lives. You might also share your thoughts and witness about the power of becoming self-reliant and how it has blessed your life.

Additional Resources

Why should I develop self-reliance?

President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency taught:

Image
President Dallin H. Oaks

Whatever causes us to be dependent on someone else for decisions or resources we could provide for ourselves weakens us spiritually and retards our growth toward what the gospel plan intends us to be. (Dallin H. Oaks, “Repentance and Change,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2003, 40)

Elder Hugo E. Martinez of the Seventy taught:

Image
Elder Hugo E. Martinez

Striving to be self-reliant is part of our work along the covenant path that leads us back to Heavenly Father and to His Son, Jesus Christ. It will strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ and joyfully bind us to Him through the covenants and ordinances of salvation and exaltation. Self-reliance is a doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ, not a program. It is a process that lasts a lifetime, not an event. (Hugo E. Martinez, “Teaching Self-Reliance to Children and Youth,” Liahona, May 2022, 95)

See also “Become Self-Reliant to Better Serve the Lord” by Elder Alfred Kyungu of the Seventy (Africa Central Local Pages, Liahona, June 2021).

What does it mean to be spiritually self-reliant?

Elder Kent F. Richards of the Seventy explained:

Image
Elder Kent F. Richards

[Spiritual self-reliance] is also a bit of a misnomer; in reality it isn’t standing on your own feet and creating your own happiness—it means doing all we can and then letting the grace of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost lift us beyond our own capacity. It means doing all we can for our own spiritual growth and learning, realizing that we cannot succeed without the sustaining help of spiritual power and gifts from on high. …

Spiritual self-reliance does not mean you have to do it alone—but it does mean that you must be in charge and initiate this process. While you have to make your own choices through your own agency, you can’t possibly ultimately succeed on your own. Heavenly Father knew that when He devised His plan. He will bless us daily through the Holy Ghost, as we qualify ourselves daily. (Kent F. Richards, “Spiritual Self–Reliance” [Ensign College devotional, June 11, 2019], ensign.edu)

How can I develop spiritual self-reliance?

Elder Robert D. Hales (1932–2017) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:

Image
Elder Robert D. Hales

We become converted and spiritually self-reliant as we prayerfully live our covenants—through worthily partaking of the sacrament, being worthy of a temple recommend, and sacrificing to serve others. (Robert D. Hales, “Coming to Ourselves: The Sacrament, the Temple, and Sacrifice in Service,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 34)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Gospel Library app

If available, invite students to access the “Self-Reliance” tab on the Gospel Library app. It is found under the “Life Help” section. Consider giving them some time to explore the different sections available in the “Self-Reliance” portion. Students could choose to look through a self-reliance manual that interests them. They could start by reading the message from the First Presidency that is found at the beginning of each manual. After a few minutes of browsing, students could share with others what they found.

Alternate beginning

Consider showing the video “Solve Problems and Make Decisions” (1:55). Students could look for what the sheep helps the pig learn about building self-reliance. You could use questions like the following to lead a discussion:

How can you relate to the pig? What are some physical, spiritual, educational, or other situations you face where you tend to lean on others rather than build self-reliance?
Who are some modern-day sheep that can help us build greater self-reliance?

Video

If students would benefit from learning further lessons about self-reliance, you could show the video “He Polished My Toe” (2:02). While they watch the video, students could make a list of lessons they learn from Elder Enrique R. Falabella’s experience. After the video, students could share what they learned and how those lessons apply to being self-reliant.