Lesson 148

Commandments (Part 4)

Introduction

The teaching materials for this doctrinal mastery topic are divided into four parts. Part 4 contains two practice exercises that can help students apply the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge and the doctrine they learned from the “Commandments” section of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2018), along with the doctrinal mastery scripture passages Isaiah 58:13–14 and Malachi 3:8–10.

Note: You could do the practice exercises in this lesson in a single class session or two separate class sessions, dividing class time between Doctrinal Mastery and regular sequential scripture lessons.

Suggestions for Teaching

Helping students teach one another

Doctrinal Mastery provides opportunities for students to practice teaching the gospel to others. These opportunities can help students better understand and apply the doctrine they have learned. While students are teaching one another, remain actively involved by moving from group to group and monitoring the learning activity, providing assistance as needed. Doing so can help students stay on task, as well as receive necessary help from you, and therefore benefit more from the activity.

Practice Exercise (20 minutes)

Review with students the following principles from the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document: act in faith, examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective, and seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources.

(Note: You may want to adapt the following scenario according to students’ experiences and needs and to substitute a name that is more common where you live.)

Invite a student to read the following scenario aloud. Ask the class to listen for how a young member of the Church named Jennifer feels about the Sabbath day:

You and Jennifer are discussing your weekend plans. Jennifer says, “The way we’re supposed to spend Sunday seems like a waste of time. I could do so much more on the weekend if I didn’t have to worry about keeping the Sabbath day holy.”

• What are some ways you could respond to Jennifer to help her act in faith?

• How could you help Jennifer view her concern about keeping the Sabbath day holy with an eternal perspective? What are some gospel truths and principles that might help Jennifer want to keep the Sabbath day holy?

• What doctrinal mastery scripture passage could help Jennifer? (Students may suggest several different passages. As they do, ask them why they chose the passage they did. If no student mentions Isaiah 58:13–14, add it to the discussion.) How do you think this doctrinal mastery scripture passage could help her?

• What other divinely appointed sources could Jennifer study to help her have a more positive attitude regarding the Sabbath day?

After discussing these questions as a class, divide students into pairs and ask them to role-play the scenario you just discussed. Invite one student in each pair to play himself or herself and the other student to play someone who has a concern about keeping the Sabbath day holy. Encourage the students who are playing themselves to help the other students act in faith, help them view their concerns with an eternal perspective, and help them use divinely appointed sources to develop a more positive attitude regarding the Sabbath day. After students have completed the role play once, invite them to switch roles and repeat the activity.

Invite students to consider their attitudes regarding the Sabbath day and to think about how they might better keep the Sabbath day holy.

Practice Exercise (20 minutes)

If you are using the two practice exercises in this lesson on different days, review with students the following principles from the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document: act in faith, examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective, and seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources.

(Note: You may want to adapt the following scenario according to students’ experiences and needs and to substitute names that are more common where you live.)

Divide students into pairs, and invite them to read aloud the following scenario with their partners. Invite them to look for how two young men work together to resolve a concern about tithing:

Recognizing the Importance of Paying Tithing

Marlo and Paul are young men who live in the same ward. Paul’s family is struggling financially, and Paul helps support them with the money he makes from his part-time job. After church one day, Marlo notices that Paul seems unhappy.

“What’s the matter?” Marlo asks.

Paul replies, “The talk in sacrament meeting about tithing troubled me. How can I afford to pay tithing when my family can barely pay for our daily living expenses?”

Marlo responds, “I can imagine that your situation must be really tough. It isn’t always easy to make ends meet. Can I think about your question for a little while and get back to you?”

“Sure,” Paul says.

Marlo remembers learning about Malachi 3:8–10 in seminary. He thinks this will be a good passage to share with Paul. Marlo also decides to study some talks about tithing from general conference. He finds the talk “Tithing: A Test of Faith with Eternal Blessings,” given by Elder Robert D. Hales (1932–2017) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at the October 2002 general conference. As Marlo studies the talk, he reads the following account:

“I know of two missionaries who visited a very poor family. The family’s home was made of pressboard and sticks, with a dirt floor and no electricity or beds. Each evening the father, a farm laborer, spent his entire day’s wages on groceries for dinner. Departing from their humble home, the senior companion thought to himself, ‘The law of tithing will surely be a stumbling block to this family. Perhaps we shouldn’t bring it up for a while.’ A few moments later, the junior companion, who had grown up in similar circumstances in his own country, voiced his own thoughts aloud: ‘I know the principle of tithing isn’t taught for four more discussions, but can we please teach it the next time we visit? They need to know about tithing now because they need the help and the blessing of the Lord so much’” (Robert D. Hales, “Tithing: A Test of Faith with Eternal Blessings,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2002, 29).

The next day, Marlo decides to share with Paul some of the things he has found and has been thinking about. Marlo also bears his testimony about the importance of paying tithing and about the blessings he has received as he has paid a full tithe.

After Marlo shares Malachi 3:8–10 and the excerpt from Elder Hales’s talk, Paul feels better about his concern and thanks Marlo for discussing the blessings of paying tithing with him.

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After sufficient time, ask students the following questions:

• Why do you think Marlo decided to share Malachi 3:8–10 with Paul? How could this passage help Paul act in faith and view his question about paying tithing with an eternal perspective?

• How do you think the account Elder Hales shared could inspire Paul to act in faith?

• What else do you think Marlo could do to help Paul view the law of tithing with an eternal perspective?

• How did Marlo use divinely appointed sources to help Paul?

• Can you think of anything else Marlo could do to help Paul?

Conclude by testifying of the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge and the blessings we can receive as we pay a full tithe. Invite students to consider if they have a concern, question, or struggle that they would like the Lord’s help with. Encourage students to ponder what they can apply from the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge as they address their own and others’ questions about the gospel.