Sometimes when we feel hurt, rejected and unloved the first response is to behave the same way back to the offender. Christ taught another way. He taught us to love our enemies, bless those that curse us, do good to them that hate us and pray for them which despitefully use us and persecute us! What a challenging charge! We hope this lesson will teach the unconditional and gentle kindness that we can give to all around us no matter their treatment of us.
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➤ L E S S O N
Open the lesson with a song and a prayer.
🎶 O P E N I N G S O N G : "Love One Another"
➤ P R E P A R A T I O N
Print the six circles for the “Emotions Activity” and place them in a bag or any other container to draw from.
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N
Invite the children to reach into the bag and randomly pick an emotion (without looking). Instruct children not to let anyone else see the emotion that they picked. After everyone has picked an emotion, take turns showing your emotions with facial expressions and see if the others can guess what emotion they are showing.
1) Were you able to guess the emotions correctly? (Yes.)
2) How? (Looking at the expressions on people's faces.)
3) What if they didn’t show you with their faces? Do you think it would be harder to guess what they were feeling? (Discuss.)
4) Do you think Jesus Christ loves all of us? (Yes!)
5) How do you know? Can you think of anything that Jesus Christ has done to show people that He loves them? (Discuss things Jesus Christ has done to serve others.)
Explain: “When we love others and when we love God, one of the ways we can show that love is by serving them. Just like Jesus Christ showed His love by serving others and serving God.”
🎥 V I D E O : "Because I Love You"
Say: “Now we are going to watch a video about showing love to others through service! See if you can find three things that Millie the Monster does to serve others.
Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
1) What three things did Millie the Monster do to show her brothers that she loved them? (She gave them balloons, ice cream, and flowers.)
2) Do you think her brothers knew that she loved them? (Yes.)
3) How did they know? (She served them.)
4) Did Millie stop serving them when they were mean to her? (No.)
5) Why do you think she kept serving them? (Because she loved them.)
6) Do you think Jesus Christ only serves people who are nice to Him? Or do you think He serves everyone? (Everyone.)
7) Why do you think He serves everyone? (Because he loves everyone!)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
Say: “Ammon was a Nephite who went to the Land of Ishmael to teach the gospel to the Lamanites.”
20 “And as Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, the Lamanites took him and abound him, as was their custom to bind all the Nephites who fell into their hands, and carry them before the king; and thus it was left to the pleasure of the king to slay them, or to retain them in captivity, or to cast them into prison, or to cast them out of his land, according to his will and pleasure.”
1) What did the king do to Nephites who came into their city? (Kill them, put them in prison, or kick them out of their land.)
2) Did the King want to be friends with Ammon? (No.)
22 “And the king inquired of Ammon if it were his desire to dwell in the land among the Lamanites, or among his people.”
23 “And Ammon said unto him: Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die.”
1) How long did Ammon want to stay with the Lamanites? (For a long time, maybe even his whole life.)
24 “And it came to pass that king Lamoni was much pleased with Ammon, and caused that his bands should be loosed; and he would that Ammon should take one of his daughters to wife.”
25 “But Ammon said unto him: Nay, but I will be thy servant. Therefore Ammon became a servant to king Lamoni. And it came to pass that he was set among other servants to watch the flocks of Lamoni, according to the custom of the Lamanites.”
1) What did Ammon want to do for King Lamoni? (He wanted to serve him.)
2) Why do you think he wanted to serve King Lamoni? (He loved the Lord, and he loved the King.)
12 And it came to pass that when Ammon had made ready the horses and the chariots for the king and his servants, he went in unto the king, and he saw that the countenance of the king was changed; therefore he was about to return out of his presence.
13 And one of the king’s servants said unto him, Rabbanah, which is, being interpreted, powerful or great king, considering their kings to be powerful; and thus he said unto him: Rabbanah, the king desireth thee to stay.
1) How did Ammon show his love for King Lamoni and for God? (By serving them.)
2) After the Ammon served the King Lamoni, did the king feel the same way? Or did his heart change? (His heart changed.)
3) Did King Lamoni want Ammon to go away, or to stay? (He wanted Ammon to stay with him.)
➤ A C T I V I T Y
Pass out activity pages.
[Pass out activity pages]
Follow the directions on the activity pages. Use this activity as an opportunity to discuss showing love to others through service, like Jesus Christ.
➤ T E S T I M O N Y
Bear testimony of the truths found in the scriptures.
'Come, Follow Me' is a resource offered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is designed to be used in the home to support personal and family scripture study to build faith in Heavenly Father and His plan of salvation and in the Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Come, Follow Me is self-contained and adequate, when used properly. Products and materials designed to supplement this resource, though they may be helpful in some instances, are not necessary for a successful home study program.