Lifelong Disciples of Jesus Christ
Religious Educators Conference Devotional, June 12, 2025
Introduction: The Church’s Emphasis on Developing Lifelong Discipleship
I am very grateful to be with you. I want to thank Gaye (Strathearn) for that tender opening prayer; Sister Ellen Amatangelo, who has always performed such beautiful work on the piano; and Brother Kevin Oviatt for helping us with the music and this wonderful choir. I thank all of you for your participation.
I heard mention of interpreters and this being translated into various languages, so I can’t resist a little humorous story that you can leave out on the rebroadcasts because it’s hard to translate. I was in Tempe, Arizona, years ago, and the proceedings of this conference, stake conference, were being translated into Spanish by an interpreter who was in another room using a headset, I guess. But he left a note for me on the podium. So I saw, when I stood up, it said: “Please speak slowly. You’re being translated.” [Laughter] It didn’t work. So you have to listen to me tonight.
Let me begin by expressing the gratitude of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—actually, the entire Church—for the work you do with our students across the world. You are on the front line of laying and defending the foundation of this Church, the kingdom of God on the earth, for the future. Thank you for your consecration. I firmly believe that your efforts are making a remarkable difference for good.
The leadership of the Church has been emphasizing the importance of developing lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. And we emphasize this, for example, in how we train mission leaders and local leaders of our young men and young women across the Church. We emphasize this in the themes we ask the General Authorities to address as they travel from place to place, and the General Officers as well.
Obviously, developing lifelong disciples of the Savior is also core for us in Church education. In the CES resource “Strengthening Religious Education,” we’re taught:
“The purpose of religious education is to teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ from the scriptures and modern prophets in a way that helps our students:
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Develop faith in and a testimony of Heavenly Father and His ‘great plan,’ …
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Become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, who make and keep covenants, … [and]
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Strengthen their ability to find answers, resolve doubts, respond with faith, and give reason for the hope within them in whatever challenges they may face.”1
Similarly, the Objective of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion states: “Our purpose is to help youth and young adults deepen their conversion to Jesus Christ and His restored gospel, qualify for the blessings of the temple, and prepare themselves, their families, and others for eternal life with their Father in Heaven.”
Lifelong discipleship is an essential aspect of the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ expresses how we come unto Christ and receive the gift of His atoning grace. We exercise our agency to have faith in Him, repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost. But for Christ’s Atonement to have its full, transformative effect in us requires that we continue in this covenant path—the path of discipleship—to the end of our mortal lives. In Nephi’s words: “And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.”2
President Nelson has taught: “True disciples of Jesus Christ are willing to stand out, speak up, and be different from the people of the world. They are undaunted, devoted, and courageous.” How is this kind of discipleship achieved? What does that mean for us as religious educators? And how can we more effectively teach in a way that our youth and young adults become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ?
Tonight, I will start by considering how exercising personal agency deepens conversion and leads to lifelong discipleship. I’ll next invite us to consider how these ideas should impact the way we teach as religious educators, focusing on how the Savior Himself taught His disciples. And I’ll then conclude with comments about how providing students with increased opportunities to take responsibility for their learning will also help them respond to President Nelson’s plea to take charge of their testimonies.
Agency’s Role in Discipleship
So first, agency’s role in discipleship. One of the most important gifts God gave His children was moral agency. This power and privilege—and responsibility—to act for ourselves is essential to realizing our full potential as children of God. It is central to our progression on the covenant path. God’s plan, as you know, was not to do everything for us but to provide a structure that allowed us to make our own choices to grow individually. Agency was key to our progression as spirits in the past, and it is key for what we can become under God’s plan of happiness, now and in eternity.
The adversary knows this and seeks to compromise our agency. In Moses, we read:
“Because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency man, which I, the Lord …, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;
“And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.”
The War in Heaven can be seen, in large part, as a battle to preserve the agency of man. And that battle continues in this mortal sphere. Satan attacks agency on at least two fronts. On the one hand, he inspires political doctrines and movements that diminish personal responsibility or that employ compulsion and coercion. The Lord states, for example, that the primary reason he caused the Constitution of the United States to be established and maintained is, quote, “for the rights and protection of all flesh … That every man may act in doctrine and principle … according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.” Then He cites a particularly egregious example of the infringement of agency, declaring, “Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.” Lucifer’s plan has always been one form or another of enslavement.
The other focus of the adversary’s assault against agency has particular significance for us as teachers. As identified in the scripture just cited, Satan, “the father of all lies,” acts “to deceive and to blind men.” Agency becomes meaningless if we don’t know what’s true and what’s not, and therefore cannot make informed, intelligent choices. The antidote to deception is truth. As the Savior declared, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” I think He means free from the bondage of sin and error, but also free to exercise our agency with understanding—free and able to make wise choices. And that’s where we come in as teachers of the word of God. Satan can have power only to the extent that one does not “hearken unto [the Lord’s] voice.” God sent His Son as “the way, the truth, and the life.” He gives us prophets to teach and guide us to truth. He’s given the gift of the Holy Ghost to confirm that truth, and our role is to help students hear and choose to embrace truth.
But agency in the context of religious education requires a further step beyond imparting gospel truths. It is essential that we teach in a way that invites students to exercise their agency in the learning process. We want to help them become active participants in the process and take responsibility for their own learning. Activating students’ agency to take personal ownership in learning has implications for the development of lasting belief, lasting testimony. It is in so doing that they can become active and lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. I’ll say more about this later, but let me add a comment here relating to covenants.
Choosing for ourselves is one of the reasons President Nelson has been so focused on covenants. When we choose to enter and keep covenants, we are making uniquely personal choices to follow our Savior. President Nelson explains:
“During this life we get to choose which laws we are willing to obey—those of the celestial kingdom, or the terrestrial, or the telestial—and, therefore, in which kingdom of glory we will live forever. Every righteous choice that you make here will pay huge dividends now. But righteous choices in mortality will pay unimaginable dividends eternally. If you choose to make covenants with God and are faithful to those covenants, you have the promise of ‘glory added upon [your head] for ever and ever.’”
So, taking ownership for choices deepens personal conviction. When we don’t act for ourselves, we can unwittingly find that our faith lacks the depth required to overcome life’s questions and challenges and to be lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. In the Lord’s own words:
“For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.”
Teaching in the Savior’s Way
Now, this foundational role agency plays in our own personal development has implications for the way we teach as religious educators. We ask mission leaders to remember this as they give their missionaries opportunities to lead and direct the missionary work. We ask youth leaders to give the youth opportunities to “bear the yoke” of leadership along with their adult mentors. And we ask you, our religious educators, to teach in ways that invite personal engagement and ownership of learning. In each of these settings, real growth happens most effectively when young people are given opportunities to act and not just be acted upon.
I happily recall my time as an early-morning seminary teacher. I learned by experience that it is a calling one should definitely covet. Two of those years as a seminary teacher came during my time as a law school student. Wanting my students to have an experience seeing what it looks like to have the courage to live by faith, I invited one of my classmates, not a member of the Church but a man of faith, to come speak to my class one morning. My friend Richard had serious eyesight problems that required periodic, painful treatments that included, if you can imagine, pulling his eyeballs out of their sockets for medical procedures. Law school required a lot of reading, but he could not see well enough to read. So, he hired several undergraduate students to read for him outside of class every day. Despite these serious challenges, he was good-natured and well-liked by his fellow students. We were all inspired by his example.
So Richard told his story in my seminary class, including his belief in God and how he felt God answered his prayers. And the students had a chance to see and hear him up close, to ask him questions. It opened their eyes to the real-life power of faith and what that could mean in their life. At the same time, the experience figuratively opened Richard’s eyes to the goodness of my precious seminary students. (One thing that impressed him was seeing teenagers in a 6:00 a.m. class.)
Now, consider how the Savior taught. Jesus didn’t just tell His disciples what they should do, nor did he do everything for them. He taught in ways that required them to think, to participate, discuss, and apply His teachings. Because of this, when the Savior was no longer with His disciples in person, they were more prepared to receive and be led by the Holy Ghost in acting for themselves. In Teaching in the Savior’s Way, we read: “It was surely awe-inspiring to watch the Savior walking on water. But that wasn’t enough for Peter. He wanted [and needed] to do what the Savior did, be where He was, and have the same experience himself.” Of course, this also meant that Peter would make mistakes, but the Savior repeatedly gave Peter—and gives all of us—opportunities to act and be strengthened through his efforts, including his failings.
To create these types of learning experiences for His disciples, the Savior found ways to help them take responsibility for their learning. Consider just three ways the Savior engaged His disciples: (1) drawing on parables, (2) asking inspired questions, and (3) extending personal invitations.
Drawing on Parables. A comment on each of these. First, parables. Think of Christ’s use of parables. Rather than coming right out with the explanation or a direct declaration, always, the Savior often invited His followers to search the deeper meaning of what He was teaching. It required effort on their part. I can think of ways my understanding of obedience has been strengthened by studying the parable of the Sower. I have better understood forgiveness in studying the prodigal son. My desire to feel and show charity to all has been expanded through the parable of the good Samaritan.
Similarly, I have become a better disciple and leader as I have reflected on stewardship as discussed in the parable of the talents. One of the things that came to me as I pondered this parable was that the first two servants—the one that had received five talents and the other that had received two, who each multiplied their talents—received the same praise and reward, even though their number of talents differed. The first, with five talents, you recall, doubled his total to ten, and the second, who began with two, returned four. But both received the identical response from their lord: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” I take this to mean that we don’t all have to achieve at the same level and progress on the same timetable to reap the Lord’s blessing and eventually the gift of eternal life. We simply need to be diligent with the gifts and the abilities and the opportunities we have. I believe that even the servant with one talent, had he worked and served to gain a second one rather than hiding his talent, would also have received the same reward that was given to his two brethren. I teach leaders and others that if they just do what they can, the Lord will magnify and reward their efforts, and in due course they will receive the fulness of His blessings.
Asking Inspired Questions. As to asking inspired questions, the Savior taught in that way as well. For example, when He asked His disciples, “Whom say ye that I am?” He clearly knew the answer with more clarity and depth than His disciples did, but He allowed Peter the opportunity to reflect and then answer the question himself. I believe that Peter’s verbalization deepened his own witness when he declared, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” After His Resurrection, the Savior asked a different question to Peter three separate times: “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?” Each time Peter answered, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” And this time the question allowed the Savior to teach Peter by replying each time, “Feed my sheep.”
Extending Invitations. Finally, extending invitations. There were times, other times the Savior answered the question He had posed, but in ways that served as an invitation. Speaking to His disciples in the Western hemisphere, the Savior asked, “What manner of men ought ye to be?” He then answered Himself, “Verily I say unto you, even as I am.” We can think of other important invitations from the Savior. Consider, for example, His invitation, “Come, follow me.” And sometimes His invitations came with accompanying promises—and they still come with promises. For example, in the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord invites: “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” In all the Savior’s invitations, He gives His disciples opportunities to act, to think, and to take ownership of their learning and their growth.
Implications for Religious Education
Earlier this year, Elder Clark Gilbert extended an invitation to our seminary and institute teachers to find ways deliberately to provide students opportunities to act and take responsibility for their learning. He drew directly from the section in Teaching in the Savior’s Way titled “Invite Diligent Learning.” I find it significant that the title of this section focuses on learning rather than teaching. To me, this is a reminder that effective teachers invite students to take responsibility in their own learning. And when we teach in a way that only invites listening and ignores active engagement on the part of the learner, we risk signaling to students that we value our teaching above their learning.
In Teaching in the Savior’s Way, we’re reminded that inviting diligent learning requires us to help students become agents in their own learning process. There are several ways this can happen, but let me emphasize at least three from that teaching resource.
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First, we can create learning experiences where we “invite learners to prepare to learn.” This can happen through pre-reading assignments, study questions, and personal invitations.
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Second, we should “encourage learners to share the truths they are learning.” There are so many ways to do this, and each of you will find personalized approaches that work for you and your students. When I was in law school, I often learned through what was called the Socratic method, where teachers helped students explore a legal case by asking the class to engage the material through a series of thoughtfully developed questions. We had to come to class prepared to articulate our own insights and to listen to others. I’ve seen institute teachers who give students opportunities to share what they are learning through well-structured class discussions, and this requires well-prepared instructors who engage well-prepared students in a spirit of inquiry and dialogue. I know that’s always the case in your classes. All the students are well-prepared. All the teachers are well-prepared. But that’s the invitation.
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And third, we should “invite learners to live what they are learning” (italics added). We should always look for ways to invite students to apply what they are learning in their own lives. This can come through personal invitations, reflective exercises, and a host of other efforts to help students change and become something more in Christ.
These efforts to prepare and to share and to apply take thought and can sometimes require more work on the part of the instructor. This may be especially true in your efforts to help students share and teach one another. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t targeted windows where we speak directly and unilaterally, especially when we are emphasizing a key message or laying a foundational principle. Tonight’s meeting is one such example of establishing a foundational message. But this message then needs to be followed up with more regular opportunities for all of us to engage in the learning process by sharing what we’re learning and applying that learning as part of our own teaching.
I hope you have recognized the preparation we asked you to do ahead of this evening with study questions and reading materials that were shared ahead of time. Tomorrow and in the coming weeks, we will invite you to discuss what you are learning about teaching in the Savior’s way with your colleagues and peers. We’ll also be asking you to identify areas where you can strengthen your own teaching based on tonight’s message and other teaching resources that will be shared tomorrow.
Let me pause here and make a pitch for another teaching resource that is worth studying, although it was written for a different audience. I’m referring to Chapter 10 in the missionary manual, Preach My Gospel. This chapter is titled “Teach to Build Faith in Jesus Christ.” Missionary teaching is, of course, the ultimate in helping people engage and transform their lives, exercising their moral agency. The goal is conversion through the influence of the Holy Ghost and the grace of Christ that leads to lifelong discipleship. This is what we are about as well in the Church Education System, of course. And so I say you could well gain added insight from this source as well as Teaching in the Savior’s Way. Naturally, there’s considerable overlap between the two manuals, but reading something that may express a principle or an idea a bit differently can sometimes bring a fresh perspective or deeper understanding. Some of the questions addressed in Chapter 10 of Preach My Gospel are “How can I teach by the Spirit?” “How can I teach from the scriptures?” “How should I share my testimony when teaching?” “How can I plan and adjust my teaching to meet people’s needs?” and “How can I ask better questions and be a better listener?” I want you to know that I am not being paid for this endorsement.
Helping Students Take Charge of Their Testimonies
Finally, on helping students take charge of their testimonies. Inviting diligent learning is foundational to developing lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ because it helps learners take responsibility for their learning, as we’ve been saying. One of the ways President Nelson has encouraged this ownership of our personal growth is in his invitation to the young adults to take charge of their testimonies. In his worldwide devotional to young adults in 2022, President Nelson stated:
“I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don’t pollute it with the false philosophies of unbelieving men and women and then wonder why your testimony is waning. Engage in daily, earnest, humble prayer. Nourish yourself in the words of ancient and modern prophets. Ask the Lord to teach you how to hear Him better. Spend more time in the temple and in family history work. As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life.”
President Nelson repeated this plea to the entire Church in his October 2022 general conference address “Overcome the World and Find Rest.”
When he spoke to the young adults, President Nelson asked a series of questions: “Do you want to feel peace about concerns that presently plague you? Do you want to know Jesus Christ better? Do you want to learn how His divine power can heal your wounds and weaknesses? Do you want to experience the sweet, soothing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ working in your life? Seeking to answer these questions will require effort—much effort.” He validates the students’ concerns by saying: “If you have questions—and I hope you do—seek answers with the fervent desire to believe. Learn all you can about the gospel and be sure to turn to truth-filled sources for guidance.”
To me, this is what it means to invite diligent learning, and this is what it will require of us to invite our students to take charge of their testimonies. That ownership of learning needs to be supported in the ways we structure our instruction, so students have opportunities to engage with the depth and rigor required to develop true discipleship. Reflect again on the prophet’s invitation to “Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow.” Do our classrooms invite this type of individual engagement to further testimony and discipleship? Are there ways we can reach—or improve our efforts to reach and invite diligent learning?
Conclusion
Tonight, I began by reviewing the purposes of religious education in the Church, including the need to help our students:
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“Develop faith in and a testimony of Heavenly Father and His ‘great plan,’ …
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Become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, who make and keep covenants, … [and]
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Strengthen their ability to find answers, resolve doubts, respond with faith, and give reason for the hope within them in whatever challenges they may face.”
When we help students exercise their personal agency, their conversion will deepen in ways that lead to lifelong discipleship. Last October, President Nelson stated, “Now is the time for us to make our discipleship our highest priority.” And he added, “It is neither too early nor too late for you to become a devout disciple of Jesus Christ.” Let us act diligently now before it is too late. Now is the time, as he said. More and more, I feel moved by my brother Paul’s warning, his warning plea to the elders in Ephesus:
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.
“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
“Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”
The students for which we are, in Paul’s word, “overseers” are infinitely precious, purchased with the Savior’s own blood. We are charged to provide a faithful example and feed and strengthen them against the “grievous wolves” they may encounter outside the Church and even within the Church—in Paul’s phrase, among our “own selves”—speaking falsehood and seeking to make them their own disciples rather than disciples of the Master. We must help them learn truth, wise use of agency, and above all, deep and abiding love of the Father and the Son.
I bear witness of our loving and beloved Heavenly Father and His plan of Redemption. I testify of the living reality of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, the resurrected Redeemer, who sits at the right hand of the Father, where He has claimed His rights of mercy upon the children of men. With Mormon, I profess to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and seek to be Christ’s disciple as long as I live. May we each be strengthened in our own discipleship and in our efforts to help as many as we can to become devout, lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.
God bless you. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.