Joseph Smith once said, “A man who has an honest heart should rejoice!”
Truth and honesty go hand in hand.
Joy and honesty go hand in hand.
Without truth, we will ultimately reap confusion, contention, deception, destruction, and chaos.
Satan, who is known as “The Father of Lies” and “The Deceiver of the Whole World,” seeks to destroy happiness. One of his most effective tools is telling us lies, and getting us to tell lies to ourselves and to others.
It is essential that we cultivate an honest heart in ourselves and in our children.
We sincerely hope that the Lord will bless and assist you in teaching this very important topic to your little ones this week!
LESSON BUNDLE DOWNLOADS:
➤ 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 : "I Believe in Being Honest"
➤ P R E P A R A T I O N
You will need some lego bricks (or Duplo blocks), two chairs, a sheet of printer paper, and a small figure such as a lego person.
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N
Face the two chairs together, leaving a small gap between the chairs. Invite the children to use the lego bricks to build a strong bridge between the two chairs so that the figure can safely cross. (Help the children build the bridge if help is needed.)
Place the figure on the bridge, and explain the following:
“When we are honest with one another, it’s like building a strong bridge. If we are always honest and if we always tell the truth, then other people will be able to trust us and believe what we say.”
Now remove the lego bridge, and replace it with the single sheet of paper. Then explain the following:
“If we are not honest, it’s like building a weak bridge. Even when we are telling the truth, other people won’t be able to trust us and they might not believe us.”
Place the lego figure on the paper so the children can watch the weak bridge collapse!
After you have completed the activity, discuss the following questions:
1) How much can we trust Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ? (A lot!)
2) Why can we trust them so much? (Because they never tell a lie.)
3) What do you think their bridge would look like? (A very strong bridge!)
4) What if Jesus Christ told a lie? Could we have faith in Him any more? (Our faith would become weak.)
🎥 V I D E O : "The Bridge of Trust | Come Follow Me Lesson for Kids"
“Now we are going to watch a video about an explorer! Let’s watch and see what happens when she sees a weak and broken bridge!”
Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
1) Why didn’t the explorer want to go on the broken bridge? (It was weak, and she didn’t want to trust the bridge because it might break.)
2) Why is telling lies kind of like the broken bridge? (Because if we tell lies, then other people can’t trust us, just like the explorer didn’t trust the broken bridge.)
3) What can we do to build a strong bridge? (We must always try to be honest!)
4) Why do you think Heavenly Father wants us to be honest? (So that we can trust each other and have strong relationships with each other and with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
Read the following scriptures and discuss the questions that follow.
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
1) Who was Anias and what did he do that was dishonest? (He promised to give some money to the apostles to help those in need. But when it was time to give them the money, he hid some of it to keep for himself and he told the apostles that he already gave them everything.)
2) Why does Satan want us to tell lies? (He knows it will make us unhappy. We will hurt each other, we will hurt ourselves, and we will not be able to trust one another.)
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
1) Who is speaking in this verse? (The apostle Paul is speaking.)
2) What is Paul teaching us to do? (To be truthful and honest with one another.)
3) What does it mean when it says we are “members of one another?” (It means we all need each other and we are all part of the same eternal family.)
4) Can we have joy together if we are telling lies to each other? (No. We need to learn to be honest.)
And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.
1) Who is the scripture talking about? (The Lamanites and the Nephites! They were all getting along and living righteously.)
2) How happy were they? (Happier than anyone had even been before!)
3) Were they honest with each other? Or dishonest? (There was no lying among them.)
➤ C O L O R I N G P A G E S
Pass out the coloring page, one to each child. Invite the children to color the scene from the video. Use this time to talk about the importance of honesty.
➤ T E S T I M O N Y
Bear testimony of the truths found in the scriptures.
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