Lesson 191: Preparing for Future Education and Employment

The Importance of Education

Education Is Vital to Our Progression

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to learn and obtain education throughout our lives. Doing so is vital to our progression on earth and throughout eternity. This lesson can help students understand the importance of education.

Possible Learning Activities

Why is education important?

To help students begin thinking about the importance of education, consider sharing the following scenario:

Imagine there is a student named Sara who doesn’t like school. She thinks it is a waste of time and causes her too much stress. In addition, she doesn’t have a lot of motivation for learning because she has never done well in school. She would rather hang out with friends, relax at home, or go to work.

Invite students to think if they have ever had concerns like Sara’s. Explain that this lesson will help them learn why Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to gain an education.

It may be helpful to remind students that education can involve learning that takes place in formal settings, such as school. Education can also involve learning that takes place in informal settings, such as at home or in other daily activities.

At the top of a page in your study journal, create a heading titled “Why is education important?” As you study today, seek revelation from Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost to see the value of education in your life. Add your insights and spiritual impressions to the list in your journal.

Study the importance of education

Give students time to study scriptures and statements from Church leaders that teach about the importance of learning and education. Students could study some or all of the resources on the handout titled “The Importance of Education.” Encourage them to record to their list in their study journals any insights they discover.

Consider dividing students into small groups and assigning each group member a scripture and a statement to study. Ask students to explain to the rest of their group what they learned in their assigned readings.

The Importance of Education

The following scriptures and statements from Church leaders can help you understand more about the Lord’s expectations and desires for you to receive education. As you study, look for truths about the importance of education.

Scriptures to study:

Doctrine and Covenants 88:77–80, 118; 130:18–19

Teachings from Church leaders:

President Russell M. Nelson taught:

Education is yours to obtain. No one else can gain it for you. Wherever you are, develop a deep desire to learn. For us as Latter-day Saints, gaining an education is not just a privilege; it is a religious responsibility. “The glory of God is intelligence” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:36). Indeed, our education is for the eternities. …

Such a long-range perspective will help you make good choices about learning.

Don’t be afraid to pursue your goals—even your dreams! But know that there is no shortcut to excellence and competence. Education is the difference between wishing you could help other people and being able to help them. (Russell M. Nelson, “What Will You Choose?” Ensign, Jan. 2015, 32)

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said:

You and I are here on the earth to prepare for eternity, to learn how to learn, to learn things that are temporally important and eternally essential, and to assist others in learning wisdom and truth (see Doctrine and Covenants 97:1). Understanding who we are, where we came from, and why we are on the earth places upon each of us a great responsibility both to learn how to learn and to learn to love learning. (David A. Bednar, “Learning to Love Learning,” Ensign, Feb. 2010, 27)

President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society General President, shared:

We should get all the education and training we possibly can so that we can be prepared. Prepared to serve in the world and the Church. Prepared to be wise counselors and companions to our spouses. Prepared to be effective teachers to our children and those young people over whom we have influence. The more we learn, the greater influence we can assert for good.” (Camille N. Johnson, “Seek Learning by Study and by Faith” [BYU–Pathway Worldwide devotional, Oct. 19, 2021], byupathway.org).

From For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices:

Heavenly Father wants His daughters and sons to always be learning. You have both temporal and spiritual reasons to seek and love learning. Education is not just about earning money. It is part of your eternal goal to become like Heavenly Father. …

Look for opportunities to expand your mind and your skills. These opportunities can include formal education at school or vocational training, as well as informal learning from sources you trust. Involve the Lord in your efforts, and He will guide you. As you learn about the world around you, learn also about the Savior, who created the world. Study His life and teachings. Make seminary, institute, and personal gospel study part of your lifelong learning. (For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices [2022], 31)

If you divided students into groups, invite them to share their findings with their group members. Before they share, explain that an important skill that will help them throughout their lives is being able to think critically. Critical thinking is the ability to make connections between ideas and evaluate them. Display the following instructions to help students practice critical thinking during their group discussion:

1. Summarize what you learned from the scripture and statement you studied.

2. After students have shared all the summaries, discuss the following questions:

3. What similarities do you find in the statements and scriptures you learned about?

4. How were the scriptures or statements you studied unique from one another?

5. Is there anything in one quote or scripture that gives you insight about something in a different quote or scripture?

Truths about the importance of education

Give students an opportunity to share truths they found from their study and discussion. You could write on the board the question from earlier in the lesson, “Why is education important?,” and have students write truths they learned around the question. Students might share truths similar to the following:

• Education helps us prepare for service in God’s kingdom (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:77–80).

• The Lord commands us to seek learning (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:118).

• The knowledge and intelligence we gain in this life will rise with us in the Resurrection (see Doctrine and Covenants 130:18–19).

• Education can prepare us to become better influences for good in the world (see Camille N. Johnson, “Seek Learning by Study and by Faith,” [BYU–Pathway Worldwide devotional, Oct. 19, 2021], byupathway.org).

Consider discussing students’ insights about the truths they identified by asking questions such as the following:

• Which of the truths you identified was most meaningful to you? Why?

• How do you think education can impact your relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?

• How have you seen the blessings of obtaining education in your life or the lives of others?

Explain it in your own words

Remind students of the scenario about Sara from the beginning of the lesson. After sharing the following instructions, give students time to record a response in their study journals.

Using what you have learned and felt today, create a response you could share with Sara that could help her better understand the importance of education. In your response, include at least one reference to a scripture or statement from a Church leader. You could also include your testimony or describe experiences you have had.

Consider giving students an opportunity to share their responses with a partner. A few willing students could also share their responses with the class.

Conclude the lesson by inviting students to share what they have learned and felt that they want to remember. They could record their thoughts or impressions in their study journals. Consider sharing your testimony about the importance of education.

Additional Resources

How can education help me?

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

I think the key to learning is learning how to learn. The issue is not learning a formula in mathematics or memorizing a series of concepts from an economics book, or something else. For me, the value of education is figuring out what to do when you don’t know what to do. That’s what education provides. You can go to books, you can go to Google, you can go to all kinds of reference materials. But what do you do when there’s no answer in the books? Everyone thinks Google knows everything—it doesn’t. What do you do when you don’t know? That’s what learning does. It equips you. This is fun. This is engaging. This is at the heart of the gospel—learning, growing, progressing. So, I would invite all of these young people to seek for the assistance of the Holy Ghost so they can learn how to learn and learn to love learning. (David A. Bednar, “I Have Learned for Myself” [BYU–Pathway Worldwide devotional, Oct. 23, 2018], byupathway.org)

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

Education prepares you for better employment opportunities. It puts you in a better position to serve and to bless those around you. It will set you on a path of lifelong learning. It will strengthen you to fight against ignorance and error. As Joseph Smith taught: “Knowledge does away with darkness, suspense and doubt; for these cannot exist where knowledge is. … In knowledge there is power” [Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 265]. … Education will prepare you for what is ahead. (Robert D. Hales, “Meeting the Challenges of Today’s World,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 45)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Learning to love learning

The statements by Elder David A. Bednar in the handout within the lesson and in the “Additional Resources” section mention learning to love learning. If students would benefit from additional instruction about how to love learning, consider discussing the following questions:

• What is there to love about learning? Why do we sometimes lose sight of that?

• Who do you know who seems to love learning? What do they do that demonstrates their love of learning?

• What can help you increase your love for learning?

Invite students to share ways they have developed an appreciation or even a love for learning and educational opportunities. Consider listing these on the board. Help students see that the more we come to appreciate our learning and education, the more we will work hard to learn, grow, and improve.

How can I become a better learner right now?

Students can get discouraged when they feel they are not good at learning. Some may struggle in formal or informal settings but the Lord will help them. The following suggestions can guide students as they pursue emotional, intellectual, and spiritual learning.

1. Exercise faith. If you believe that God can help you reach exaltation, you may find it easier to believe that He can help you learn math or whatever subject you’re struggling with. Take an eternal perspective. Exercising faith helps you be grateful for feedback even if it means losing points or having to do something over again.

2. Be purposeful in your motivation to learn. Students who try to meet course requirements and deadlines in a hurried, dismissive, or “check-the-box” approach can miss out on opportunities for learning. In contrast, students who look for connections, opportunities, and a sense of purpose can become transformed by the education experience. They learn so they can change, improve, and grow.

3. Be willing to change. Be willing to change and identify how your current way of thinking and acting might be limiting your ability to learn. Look for ways to improve when your performance on a test or assignment is lower than you expected. Change can produce new results.

4. Seek opportunities to learn and grow. Because education is important to the Lord, as you seek opportunities to learn and grow, you will grow closer to Jesus Christ and find emotional, intellectual, and spiritual strength.