Elder Ian S. Arden (Oct. '23): "Love Thy Neighbor

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 It is impressive to consider the amazing work the Church carries out around the world to relieve suffering.  More impressive, to me though, can be the change that comes over us as we learn to love God and to love our fellow beings as He does.  

The Activity:

  1. Point out that when speaking of Christ's feelings when He witnesses suffering, Elder Arden uses the word compassion.  This word is among the most frequently used in the New Testament to describe how Christ felt towards others (see for example Matt. 9:36; Mark 1:41; Luke 7:13).
  2. Specifically, Elder Arden mentions two events from Christ's ministry that demonstrate His compassion (John 11:32-35 & III Ne. 17:5-9).
  3. Divide the class into small groups (4-5 people per group)
  4. Invite the groups to read aloud the two passages Elder Arden mentions and then to 1) identify other passages/stories where Christ shows compassion and 2) discuss how we can act compassionately in our own lives.
  5. Allow the groups time to talk
  6. When the discussions begin dwindling down, come back together as a class and share what was learned in the small groups.

Using the Activity:

I love that this activity asks us to consider the life of Christ for a very specific purpose and then to try and apply that in our own lives.  Having said that, depending on the class, it might be best to identify some other instances from the Savior's life yourself and share with the class members in place of asking them to identify stories on their own.  In either case, there is no burning need to require them to identify the specific scriptural verses. The important thing is to consider the example of our Savior and then try to consider how we could emulate His example in our own life.

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