Hebrews 12

“Whom the Lord Loveth He Chasteneth”

When is the last time you were chastened or corrected by someone? How did you respond? Have you ever been grateful for correction you have received? Paul wrote to the Hebrew Saints and explained to them that our Heavenly Father often shows His love by correcting us. This lesson can help you learn how humbly submitting to correction from Heavenly Father can help you have peace and become more like Him.

Praying for students regularly. Heavenly Father knows each student individually. As you pray to Him, He can help you discern students’ needs and inspire you with ways to meet their needs. Listen for promptings that may come during the lesson or as you prepare to teach.

Student preparation: Invite students to think of times when they were grateful for correction, whether from God or someone else.

Possible Learning Activities

The race of life

Hebrews 12:9, which is a doctrinal mastery passage, will be studied in greater depth in the next lesson. If class time is limited and only one lesson on Hebrews 12 can be taught, consider how to combine the two lessons effectively.

Display the following images (or similar ones).

Before students answer the following questions in their study journals, consider inviting them to discuss in pairs or small groups how life is like a race.

In your study journal, make a list of ways that your mortal life feels like a long-distance race. For example, you could answer the following:

• What is making you feel tired or worn down?

• What are some ways you are doing well in the race and ways you could be doing better?

• What is the destination you are running toward? Why is it desirable?

• Why do you need help finishing life’s race?

“Run with patience”

The Apostle Paul compared our lives to a race. Read Hebrews 12:1–2, looking for what Paul taught about how we can successfully run the race of life. Note that the “cloud of witnesses” mentioned in verse 1 refers to the examples of faith recorded in Hebrews 11.

• What stood out to you in these verses?

• How would following Paul’s counsel help us successfully run the race of life?

Paul noted in verse 2 that the Savior endured the challenge of crucifixion by focusing on “the joy that was set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2). President Russell M. Nelson explained:

What was the joy that was set before Him? Surely it included the joy of cleansing, healing, and strengthening us; the joy of paying for the sins of all who would repent; the joy of making it possible for you and me to return home—clean and worthy—to live with our Heavenly Parents and families.

(Russell M. Nelson, “Joy and Spiritual Survival,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2016, 83)

• What does the Savior’s focus during His Crucifixion teach you about how He feels about you?

• How can knowing this about Jesus Christ help you experience joy even during difficult times?

• What are some joys you can focus on during difficult times in your life?

Enduring chastening from the Lord

Think about a time when someone corrected you and how you reacted to that correction.

• What are some reasons people have corrected you?

• Why is it sometimes difficult to be corrected by others?

• When have you been grateful for some of the correction you have received? Why?

Consider displaying the following scripture reference and placing students in small groups to study the passage and discuss the associated questions. Invite one person from each group to share a few answers they feel were particularly helpful or insightful.

Read Hebrews 12:5–7, 9–11, looking for what Paul taught about chastening or correction.

If students have questions about the word bastard in Hebrews 12:8, explain that it refers to those born out of wedlock, who were not considered legal heirs during Paul’s time.

Hebrews 12:9 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider marking doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so you can locate them easily. You will learn more about this doctrinal mastery passage in the next lesson.

• What do these verses teach about Heavenly Father’s purposes for chastening us?

Review Hebrews 12:10–11 again, looking for how you could complete the following truth:

• If we submit to chastening from Heavenly Father …

Invite students to share their insights. If needed, help them identify a truth similar to the following by pointing out the phrase “partakers of His holiness” in verse 10 and “yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” in verse 11.

Here is one way you could complete this truth: If we submit to chastening from Heavenly Father, we will become more like Him and have the peace that comes from righteousness.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave the following insights about chastening we receive from the Lord:

Divine chastening has at least three purposes: (1) to persuade us to repent, (2) to refine and sanctify us, and (3) at times to redirect our course in life to what God knows is a better path. …

… If we are open to it, needed correction will come in many forms and from many sources. It may come in the course of our prayers as God speaks to our mind and heart through the Holy Ghost [see Doctrine and Covenants 8:2]. It may come in the form of prayers that are answered no or differently than we had expected. Chastening may come as we study the scriptures and are reminded of deficiencies, disobedience, or simply matters neglected.

(D. Todd Christofferson, “‘As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten,’” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 98, 100)

• Based on Elder Christofferson’s statement, what are some ways that Heavenly Father might chasten or correct us?

If possible, watch “The Will of God” (3:01) to see how President Hugh B. Brown (1883–1975) of the First Presidency was helped by God’s chastening. This video can be found on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

• What thoughts or feelings did you have as you watched this video that could help you in your life?

• How can submitting to chastening from Heavenly Father bring peace and help you become more like Him?

• What experiences have you had in which Heavenly Father’s chastening has helped you find peace or become more like Him?

• How did this experience influence your feelings for Him?

Consider sharing an example of being chastened by God to help students think of their own experiences. Be careful to not share anything that is too personal or private.

Give students sufficient time to ponder and complete the following activity, and encourage them to act on any impressions they receive.

Reflect on what you have learned and felt today that can help you in your life. Record your thoughts and impressions, including any actions you plan to take based on what you learned and felt.

Commentary and Background Information

What if I feel I am falling behind others in life’s race?

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

We are not in a race against each other to see who is the wealthiest or the most talented or the most beautiful or even the most blessed. The race we are really in is the race against sin.

(Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Laborers in the Vineyard,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 31)

How does Heavenly Father’s chastening show His love for us?

Elder Taniela B. Wakolo of the Seventy described examples from his own life and the life of Joseph Smith that showed God’s love in chastening.

Watch “God Loves His Children” from time code 5:23 to 8:04 to see these examples.

Scripture attests to numerous purposes for the Lord’s chastening. In Hebrews 12:10, Paul taught that the Lord corrects us “for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.” His correction “yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Hebrews 12:11). The Lord’s correction can take many forms, and it always helps to teach individuals as well as provide necessary correction. Chastening helps people remember the Lord, repent, receive forgiveness and deliverance, learn obedience, and become refined as gold (see Helaman 12:3; Doctrine and Covenants 1:27; 95:1; 105:6; Job 23:10).

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said of the Lord’s chastening:

Correction is vital if we would conform our lives “unto a perfect man, [that is,] unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Paul said of divine correction or chastening, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:6). Though it is often difficult to endure, truly we ought to rejoice that God considers us worth the time and trouble to correct.

(D. Todd Christofferson, “‘As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten,’” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 97–98)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Hebrews 12:1. “Cloud of witnesses”

To help students better understand what Paul meant by the phrase “cloud of witnesses,” it might be helpful to point out that a cloud can refer to “a dense multitude, a throng” (James Strong, The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible [2010], Greek dictionary section, entry 3509).

Invite students to make a list of those they would consider a witness to them that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. They could start with living people and then move to those who have passed on. Consider inviting a few students to share how this “cloud of witnesses” could encourage or has encouraged them as they have progressed through life.

Hebrews 12:5–7, 9–11. How to receive correction

If students would benefit from a discussion on how to receive correction, they could read Hebrews 12:5–7, 9–11, looking for how Paul suggested we could receive correction from the Lord. Consider inviting students to think about what the following words or phrases add to their understanding about how we can accept the Lord’s chastening: “despise not … nor faint” (verse 5), “endure chastening” (verse 7), “reverence” and subject oneself (verse 9), and exercise or follow the chastening (see verse 11).

Invite students to identify Christlike attributes that are required if we are to receive God’s correction in these ways. They could choose a Christlike attribute they would like to develop and create a plan to do so.