Come, Follow Me
Why does the Lord want me to be healthy?

Why does the Lord want me to be healthy?

Prepare Yourself Spiritually

Good health is an important part of being self-reliant. Safeguarding our health will allow us to fulfill our divine potential and serve others more effectively. The way we treat our bodies affects our spiritual health and our ability to receive guidance from the Holy Ghost. In order to preserve our health, we should obey the Word of Wisdom, eat nutritious food, exercise regularly, and get adequate sleep.

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 has maintaining your health allowed you to serve the Lord more effectively? What other blessings have you received as you have strived to live a healthy life?

What temptations do the young women face that could harm their health? What blessings will they receive as they observe the Lord’s law of health?

What can the young women 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 those He taught to act in faith and live the truths He taught. How can you invite the young women you teach to act in faith and keep their minds and bodies healthy? How can you inspire them to seek the spiritual and physical benefits of living as the Lord has commanded?

Meeting Outline

1. Counsel Together and Share Experiences

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

Lead a discussion about items such as the following:

  • Our class: 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 responsibilities: 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 class 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 class presidency meeting.

2. Learn Together

Led by a leader or teacher or a member of the class; 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 class members understand the doctrine.

  • Experiences that show the blessings of obeying the Word of Wisdom can inspire the young women to be more committed to living this law. You could share an experience from your own life or from President Thomas S. Monson’s talk “Principles and Promises.” You could also show the video “Leave the Party.” The young women may be able to share experiences from their own lives or the lives of their family members.

  • Invite the young women to make lists of things they are doing to keep their minds and bodies healthy. Divide the class into groups, and assign each group to search one of the following scriptures, looking for counsel to help them keep their minds and bodies healthy: Doctrine and Covenants 88:124; 89:5–9; and 89:10–16 (if they need help understanding the counsel in Doctrine and Covenants 89, see True to the Faith, pages 186–88). Have each group report their findings. Ask the young women to review their lists and determine if there are additional things they could do to maintain their health. Invite the young women who feel comfortable doing so to share any changes they plan to make that will bless them now and in the future.

  • If necessary, briefly review the Word of Wisdom to ensure that the young women understand the Lord’s counsel regarding physical health. Write on the board, Why has the Lord given us the Word of Wisdom? Ask the young women to suggest some answers. Invite the young women to read Doctrine and Covenants 89:18–21 to find the promises the Lord makes to those who obey the Word of Wisdom. How are each of these promises fulfilled in our lives? If they need help understanding these promises, suggest that they refer to President Boyd K. Packer’s explanation in his talk “The Word of Wisdom: The Principle and the Promises.” Invite them to share their testimonies of this doctrine or of blessings they have received by living the Word of Wisdom.

  • Show the video “Physical Health,” and invite the young women to watch for reasons we should keep our bodies healthy—including both temporal and spiritual reasons. Ask them to share what they find. As part of this discussion, consider sharing this statement from President Boyd K. Packer: “Surely the Word of Wisdom was given so that you may keep the delicate, sensitive, spiritual part of your nature on proper alert. Learn to ‘listen’ to your feelings. You will be guided and warned and taught and blessed” (“The Word of Wisdom: The Principle and the Promises,” Ensign, May 1996, 19). How has President Packer’s promise been fulfilled in the lives of the young women?

  • Invite the young women to read “Physical and Emotional Health” in For the Strength of Youth. Ask some of the young women to list on the board several items of counsel they find, and ask others to list the blessings promised to those who follow this counsel. Ask them to discuss how the way they treat their bodies affects their spirits. How could they use the lists on the board to explain their standards to friends of other faiths?

3. Plan to Act

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

  • Ask the young women 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 class to apply what they have learned?

  • Give the young women 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 women 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 women apply what they learned in this lesson.