Isaiah 40–49: Lesson 122

Doctrinal Mastery Practice 8

Apply Truths in Doctrinal Mastery Passages and Principles of Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge

Doctrinal mastery can help students build their lives upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and His gospel. This lesson can help students apply truths found in doctrinal mastery passages and the divine principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge.

Student preparation: Invite students to search the doctrinal mastery passages and choose two or three passages that they feel could apply to almost any situation a teenager could face.

Possible Learning Activities

Doctrinal mastery review: Apply

Consider providing each student with a small piece of paper. Invite them to write a brief description of a difficult situation that someone they know is facing and then place their paper in a bucket. Ask students not to include names or details that are too personal because other students will be reading their papers.

Then, place students in partnerships. Have each partnership choose two papers from the bucket and complete the three steps below.

1. Review the Old Testament doctrinal mastery passages using the list in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2023).

2. Discuss how various passages could apply to at least one of the situations on your papers. (You could also use doctrinal mastery passages from other books of scripture.)

3. Share how applying the teachings in those passages could strengthen their relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

After sufficient time, invite partnerships to share with the class what they discussed.

If students need help identifying a doctrinal mastery passage that applies to their situation, you might direct them to a passage that could apply to many situations, such as Proverbs 3:5–6 or 2 Nephi 32:3.

This activity should only take 10–15 minutes to allow time for students to learn and apply principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge for the remainder of the lesson.

Learn and apply principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge

The remainder of the lesson is meant to help students apply principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to a realistic situation.

Consider displaying the picture of a young woman and the scenario below.

The scenario might feel more realistic if you leave the underlined parts blank and invite students to fill in the blanks with Church doctrine and standards that are relevant to their lives.

When Julietta was a child, she assumed most people agreed with the teachings of Jesus Christ she learned in her home and at church. Now that she is in high school, it seems like the opposite. Most people she knows seem to disagree with the doctrine and standards taught in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

For example, many of her classmates make fun of her belief in living prophets; even some of her friends can’t understand why she chooses not to participate in immoral activities and entertainment.

Some of your students might not relate well to Julietta. You might ask volunteers who have experienced a similar situation to describe how it feels and what makes it difficult to deal with. You could point out that whether or not they have had similar experiences to Julietta, the purpose of the scenario is to allow them to practice using the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge and doctrine they have recently learned.

Ask students to review the principles in paragraphs 5–12 of the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document, looking for principles that could help someone experiencing a similar situation to Julietta.

When students finish reviewing, allow them plenty of time to discuss the principles they feel could help Julietta.

Based on their discussion, you could choose sections from the remaining lesson material that could help your students better understand the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge.

Act in faith

Consider displaying the following questions and inviting students to discuss their answers in small groups. Move around the room and listen to their discussions, adding insights or direction as needed.

• How could Julietta’s situation be an opportunity for her to strengthen her faith in Jesus Christ and commitment to His Church?

• What might she feel tempted to do that could lead her away from Jesus Christ?

• How would you suggest she handle those temptations with faith in Jesus Christ?

Examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective

The following instructions allow students to share what they found. Wait until they have completed each step before providing each subsequent step.

(In addition to reviewing paragraph 8 in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document in step 1, you could also give students a few minutes to study the “Consult Reliable Sources” section of Seeking Answers to Questions [Gospel Library, Topics and Questions].)

1. Record in your study journal one statement from paragraph 8 of the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document that you think could help Julietta and why.

2. Move around the room and find another student who chose the same statement as you. Discuss how it could help Julietta.

3. Add to your journal page meaningful insights that the other student shared with you.

4. Move around the room again and find a student who chose a different statement than you did. Share the insights from your journals.

When students finish the activity, you might ask volunteers to share insights that their classmates taught them. You might also invite them to record any impressions they might have received for their own lives.

Seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources

Adding the following to Julietta’s scenario could help students prepare to discuss the importance of the sources we turn to in our lives.

Since so many people disagree with her, Julietta starts to wonder if the doctrine and standards taught in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are really from God.

Consider inviting students to discuss the following prompts with a partner.

• The people and sources Julietta uses to find information are important because …

• I would counsel Julietta to look for answers by going to … and against looking for answers by going to …

When partners finish discussing, invite volunteers to share what they discussed with the class. You might ask students to share why they answered the way they did. Consider helping students understand that the sources they turn to can lead them closer to or further from Heavenly Father.

To give students practice seeking further understanding through divinely appointed sources, partners could also find and share doctrinal mastery passages that could help Julietta. Examples of passages they might use include Joshua 24:15; Proverbs 3:5–6; Isaiah 5:20; Matthew 5:14–16; and Doctrine and Covenants 6:36.

Personal application

You might conclude class by inviting students to prayerfully answer one of the following questions in their study journals. Encourage them to pay attention to impressions from the Holy Ghost as they ponder and write.

• What do you feel Heavenly Father would have you do with what you learned or felt today?

• How can choosing to follow the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge in your life affect your relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?

Supplemental Learning Activity

Alternate scenario

You could replace the scenario in the lesson with one that allows students to discuss difficult decisions teenagers need to make.

Benjamin isn’t perfect, but he tries hard to do what is right. Thinking about important decisions he will be making in the next few years causes him a lot of anxiety. Some of the decisions that cause him stress are , , and .

Many activities in the lesson could be slightly adjusted to help students use the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to help Benjamin.

In discussing the scenario, students might use doctrinal mastery passages such as Proverbs 3:4–5; James 1:5–6; Moroni 10:4–5; and Doctrine and Covenants 8:2–3 to help Benjamin.