Come, Follow Me
Why are covenants important in my life?

Why are covenants important in my life?

Prepare Yourself Spiritually

We make covenants when we receive ordinances such as baptism, ordination to the priesthood, and temple ordinances. A covenant is a sacred agreement between God and His children. God sets specific conditions, and He promises to bless us as we obey these conditions. Making and keeping covenants qualifies us to receive the blessings God has promised. When we choose not to keep covenants, we cannot receive the blessings. Our covenants guide the choices we make and help us resist temptation.

Resources to Help You Prepare

These resources are to help you prepare for the “Learn together” section of the meeting.

Questions to Ponder before You Teach

How have you been blessed by making and keeping covenants? Can you think of an experience in which your covenants guided a decision you made?

How can you help the young men better understand the covenants they have made and will make in the future? How will understanding the nature and importance of covenants influence the young men to live more righteously?

What can the young men do to prepare to learn? For example, they could read a talk, watch a video, or study a scripture related to this doctrine.

Teaching in the Savior’s Way

The Savior invited His followers to exercise faith and act upon the truths He taught (see Luke 18:18–25). How can you help the young men gain a desire to participate in ordinances and covenants and honor their covenants through righteous actions?

Meeting Outline

1. Counsel Together and Share Experiences

Led by a member of the quorum presidency; approximately 5–10 minutes

Lead a discussion about items such as the following:

  • Our quorum: Who is missing today? What visits do we need to make? Who should we invite to an upcoming activity? Who needs our help and prayers?

  • Our duties: What assignments do we need to make? What assignments have we fulfilled? How have we invited others to come unto Christ, and how can we invite others now?

  • Our lives: Remind the quorum of the discussion from the last meeting. What experiences have we had with applying what we learned? What experiences have we had in the past few weeks that strengthened our testimonies of the gospel?

If possible, discuss these items beforehand in a quorum presidency meeting.

2. Learn Together

Led by a leader or teacher or a member of the quorum; approximately 25–35 minutes

After studying the above resources and following the inspiration of the Spirit, you may select one or more of the activities below to help quorum members understand the doctrine.

  • Read together paragraphs 3–6 in Elder Gerrit W. Gong’s message “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” and give the young men a few moments to ponder what his words teach them about covenants. What do our covenants and Jesus Christ’s Atonement “help us hold on” to and “let go” of? When have we felt this power in our lives? What can we do to realize the power of covenants in our lives?

  • Invite the young men to search for the phrase “great and precious promises” in Elder David A. Bednar’s talk “Exceeding Great and Precious Promises.” Ask them to search each paragraph that contains this phrase and find and share at least one thing they learn about God’s “precious promises” to us. Questions like the following might help the class discuss what they learn: What has God promised to us? What “sources of divine help” has God given us to help us remember His promises? How do covenants help us receive His promises?

  • Invite the young men to imagine they are trying to help a friend of another faith understand covenants. Invite them to study “Covenant” in True to the Faith or the scriptures listed in this outline and prepare ways to explain covenants to their friend. Invite them to role-play teaching each other. Ask them to include in their explanation reasons why their covenants are important to them.

  • Invite the young men to individually search Mosiah 5, marking words or phrases that impress them about making and keeping covenants. Ask them to write on the board what they find. On the board, write, Keeping my covenants is important to me because . Invite each young man to complete the sentence.

  • Show a picture of Captain Moroni raising the title of liberty (see Gospel Art Book [2009], no. 79). Ask the young men to identify some of the details in the picture and briefly tell the story it depicts (see Alma 46:10–37). What covenants did the Nephites make? (see verses 20–22). Why did the people choose to make these covenants despite the danger they faced? How did their covenants influence the outcome of the battle? Ask the young men to list the covenants they have made. How do these covenants help us overcome challenges and temptations?

3. Plan to Act

Led by a member of the quorum presidency; approximately 5–10 minutes

  • Ask the young men to discuss any feelings or impressions they had during the meeting. What was meaningful to them? Is there something they can do personally or as a quorum to apply what they have learned?

  • Give the young men a few minutes to record what they will do in the coming weeks to act on their impressions. Invite them to share their ideas.

  • Remind the young men that they will have the opportunity to share their experiences at the beginning of the next meeting.

Related Youth Activities

Plan a Mutual activity that will help the young men apply what they learned in this lesson.