February 27–March 5

We Are Responsible for Our Own Learning

As you read and ponder the scripture passages in this outline, record the spiritual impressions you receive. This will invite the Spirit into your preparation. Come, Follow Me for individuals and families and the ideas below can help you inspire the people in your class to be diligent in learning from the Old Testament this year. Your purpose in this lesson is to inspire class members to be more self-reliant as learners at home and at church.

Record Your Impressions

Improving Our Teaching

Stay focused on doctrine. As you lead discussions, part of your responsibility is to ensure that the class remains grounded in the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets. You can do this by asking questions like these: “What gospel truths do we learn from the comments we have heard?” or “Can someone share a scripture that relates to what we’ve discussed?” (See Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 20–21.)

Invite Sharing

One of your objectives as a teacher is to encourage class members to learn from the scriptures on their own and with their families. For instance, you could ask class members to share impressions they had about making their scripture study more meaningful.

Teach the Doctrine

We can know the truth for ourselves.

• Many passages in the Old Testament teach principles that can guide our search for truth. Examples include Proverbs 3:5–6; Isaiah 28:10; 55:8–9; Jeremiah 29:12–13; Amos 3:7; Moses 5:6; and Abraham 1:2. You might ask each class member to ponder one of these passages and share what it teaches us about how to find truth. (Some of them may have read these verses in this week’s study outline in Come, Follow Me for individuals and families.)

• We are all at different places in our pursuit of truth. There may be people in your class who have questions. The best way to help them may be to review principles they can follow to seek answers on their own. Here are three simple principles you could share with your class:

  1. Act in faith.

  2. Keep an eternal perspective.

  3. Seek understanding through divinely appointed sources.

  This process is described in more detail in this week’s study outline in Come, Follow Me for individuals and families and in Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (Church Educational System manual, 2016), 2–3.

Learning requires diligent effort.

• Your class members will be most successful if they see learning as an active experience that takes effort on their part rather than something they passively receive from a teacher. How can you help them catch this vision? How is this principle illustrated in the account of Elisha and Naaman, found in 2 Kings 5? Reading and discussing Elder David A. Bednar’s statement in “Additional Resources” may also help. What experiences can class members share in which they had to work diligently to learn something?

How can we make our scripture study more meaningful?

• Studying the Old Testament may be intimidating for class members who feel that they don’t have the necessary time, understanding, or skills. What can you do to help them have success in learning from the Old Testament this year? You might start by inviting class members to openly share their feelings and concerns about studying the Old Testament. You or other class members might share tips or ideas that have helped you study and understand the scriptures.

• In the “Additional Resources” for this lesson, you can find a list of ideas to improve scripture study. Perhaps a member of the class could share experiences he or she has had using some of the ideas listed. It may be helpful to turn to a chapter in the Old Testament (such as Genesis 1) and try out some of these ideas as a class. This could help give class members confidence as they begin studying the Old Testament on their own.

• Devotion to the word of God is a major theme in the Old Testament. Some passages that teach this include Deuteronomy 6:6–9; Joshua 1:8; and Ezra 7:10. You could read these passages as a class or in small groups and ask class members to identify key words or phrases that suggest how we should approach our study of the word of God.

Teachers and learners should work together to invite the Spirit.

• To inspire a discussion about inviting the Spirit into your learning, you might ask class members to share what they learn about the Spirit as they read 1 Kings 19:11–12; Psalm 51:10–11; and Joel 2:28–29. What can we do to have the Spirit “poured out” (see Joel 2:29) on our class?

• Some class members may not realize that they have just as much responsibility as the teacher to invite the Spirit into the class. To help them see this, you could invite the class to read Doctrine and Covenants 50:13–22; 88:122 and consider what teachers and students can do to invite the Spirit. It might be helpful to write their responses on the board under headings such as these: What the teacher can do and What the learners can do. Would it help to create a poster with the class’s goals for learning that could be displayed for the next few weeks?

Encourage Learning at Home

To encourage class members to study at home in preparation for next week’s discussion, you could tell them that the study outline in Come, Follow Me for individuals and families will help lay the foundation for successful study of the Old Testament at home and in Sunday School.

Additional Resources

Claiming spiritual knowledge for ourselves

Elder David A. Bednar explained: “I have observed a common characteristic among the instructors who have had the greatest influence in my life. They have helped me to seek learning by faith. They refused to give me easy answers to hard questions. In fact, they did not give me any answers at all. Rather, they pointed the way and helped me take the steps to find my own answers. I certainly did not always appreciate this approach, but experience has enabled me to understand that an answer given by another person usually is not remembered for very long, if remembered at all. But an answer we discover or obtain through the exercise of faith, typically, is retained for a lifetime. … Only in this way can a person move beyond relying upon the spiritual knowledge and experience of others and claim those blessings for himself or herself. Only in this way can we be spiritually prepared for what is coming” (“Seek Learning by Faith,” Ensign, Sept. 2007, 67).

Ideas for improving scripture study

• Read just a few verses at a time, and read them slowly, multiple times.

• Use the scripture footnotes, Topical Guide, Bible Dictionary, and other study helps to gain additional insights.

• Look up the definitions of difficult words in a dictionary.

• Consider how scripture stories and teachings apply in your life.

• Ask questions, and search for answers.

• Try to visualize what is happening in the scriptures. Imagine the story’s setting, and think about how the people might have felt and acted.

For more ideas, see “Ideas to Improve Your Personal Scripture Study” in Come, Follow Me for individuals and families.