Elder Ulisses Soares (Apr. '23): "Followers of the Prince of Peace)

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 This talk would be an excellent companion talk when teaching about Pres. Nelson's talk from this same conference.  The two overlap in important ways.  And if it comes from the mouths of two or more witnesses, we know it must be true.

The Activity:

  1. Read par. 15 "I invite you . . . after these things.'"
  2. Draw a line down the middle of the board.  Label one side "Christ's actions" and the other side "Reasons not to"
  3. Remind the class members that Christ is our perfect example of what to be and how to act toward others.  Explain that you want to think more about the example of Christ in this regard.
  4. Read par. 6 "Jesus perfectly exemplified . . . Roman governor marveling."  
  5. Point out that in this quote Elder Soares mentions three actions of the Savior's (washing the feet of the disciples; healing the ear of the soldier who came with Judas to arrest him; and not speaking against His accusers in Pilate's presence).  Write each of these on the board under the first heading.
  6. Point out that there was at least one "natural man" reason for Christ not to do as He did (e.g. the feet of the disciples were most likely very dirty).
  7. Ask the class members to brainstorm some of the reasons for Christ to not behave the way He did.  Write these in the second column.
  8. Ask the class members to identify a couple more examples of Christ acting with charity and do the same with them as the above examples.
  9. Invite the class members to reflect on the list on the board and discuss the lessons we can learn from Christ through these stories.

Using the Activity:

I am as guilty of this as the next person, but often I feel we-- each of us-- uses some eternally short-sighted reasons to not act with charity and to not follow the example of Christ.  This activity is created to highlight that Christ had many of the same reasons (or at least similar reasons) to not act in the way He did; nevertheless, He acted with charity at all times.  It is not designed to make anyone feel shame.  The purpose is really to help us realize that some of our excuses won't hold much water when we have to account for why we treated some people the way we did.  

I hope that you found something useful here.  Thank you for visiting.  God bless.

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