POST-AND-PRESENT ACTIVITY. COLOR MY LIFE WITH THE GOSPEL Happy Crayons Game. Youth can know that the gospel principles lived will bring happiness. This way we can show our “true” colors as we live the commandments, e.g., tithing repentance, prayer, gratitude, and Sabbath (each matching the Ten Commandments).
USE FOR: COME FOLLOW ME, Primary and Home (family home evening), Activity Days, Sunday School, Bible Study
GOSPEL GAME ACTIVITY
Color My Life with the Gospel (Happy Crayons GAME)
The focus of this activity is The Ten Commandments.
OBJECTIVE: Help youth tell how living the gospel of Jesus Christ can make us happy (coloring our life with the gospel).
TO MAKE VISUALS: Print and color and cut out the Happy crayons crayon box, and crayons. Laminate a large poster. Laminate and cut out the 3-D crayon box, cutting along the dotted line to create a pocket in which to insert crayons. Mount the crayon box on the top center of the poster and the crayons below using double-stick tape or large magnets.
INTRODUCTION: Tell youth, “Heavenly Father wants us to have the gospel so much that it was promised to us even before our world was created for us. In heaven, before we came to earth, we were taught the gospel and we choose to come here to prove that we can live the gospel. This way we are showing our ‘true’ colors (being true to Heavenly Father and Jesus). By being true we can receive the promises that will make us happy and return to live with Them again someday.
TO PLAY Happy Crayons Game:
1. Divide youth into two teams and have one from each team take turns choosing a crayon from the board and reading the gospel work/phrase aloud, e.g., Word of Wisdom.
2. Then have youth tell how we can live that part of the gospel to make us happy (coloring our life), e.g., “to live the Word of Wisdom we don’t take drugs or smoke or drink alcohol; we exercise, eat good foods, and get enough rest.”
3. Ask others from their team to give their ideas (up to 3 ideas), giving a point for each idea shared. If they can’t think of three ideas then the other team gets to tell their ideas for points.
4. Then have the youth that chose the crayon place it in the crayon box.
5. Keep playing until all crayons are placed in the box and the team with the most points wins.
The Ten Commandments and Gospel Crayons Match
Discuss with children the TEN COMMANDMENTS (Exodus 19-20 – see below*) and match them up with the crayons as you discuss ways to live each and color your life with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Listed are the CRAYONS (here are suggestions to match up with the 10 Commandments – listed below – see in GREEN* the GOSPEL PRINCIPLES that might help you live each commandment):
. Tithing (8, 10)
. Repentance (7)
. Baptism (1)
. Prayer (3)
. Kindness (5, 6, 7, 9, 10)
. Honesty (5, 6, 8, 9, 10)
. Holy Ghost (1)
. Word of Wisdom (6)
. Scriptures
. Service (5, 8, 9, 10)
. Prophet
. Temple
. Forgiveness (5, 6, 7, 10)
. Missionary
. Priesthood
. Family (5, 7)
. Primary
. Gratitude (5, 9, 10)
. Love (3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
. Sabbath (3, 4)
. Obedience (1, 3, 5, 7, 8)
. Reverence (3, 6, 7, 9)
. Testimony (3)
. Fasting
The Gospel Principles book explains these in more detail (HERE).
*See THE TEN COMMANDMENTS Overview (HERE on the Church website, or below)
See the GOSPEL PRINCIPLES (found in the above activity listed below each Commandment)
The Ten Commandments are eternal gospel principles that are necessary for our exaltation. The Lord revealed them to Moses in ancient times (see Exodus 20:1–17), and they are also referenced in whole or in part in other books of scripture (see Matthew 19:18–19; Romans 13:9; Mosiah 12:33–36; 13:13–24; Doctrine and Covenants 42:18–29; 59:5–13; 63:61–62). The Ten Commandments are a vital part of the gospel. Obedience to these commandments paves the way for obedience to other gospel principles.
The following review of the Ten Commandments includes brief explanations of how they continue to apply in our lives today:
1. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). We should do “all things with an eye single to the glory of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 82:19). We should love and serve the Lord with all our heart, might, mind, and strength (see Deuteronomy 6:5; Doctrine and Covenants 59:5).
GOSPEL PRINCIPLES: Holy Ghost, Obedience, Baptism
2. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image” (Exodus 20:4). In this commandment, the Lord condemns the worship of idols. Idolatry may take many forms. Some people do not bow before graven images or statues but instead replace the living God with other idols, such as money, material possessions, ideas, or prestige. In their lives, “their treasure is their god”—a god that “shall perish with them” (2 Nephi 9:30).
3. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (Exodus 20:7).
GOSPEL PRINCIPLES: Prayer, Love, Sabbath, Obedience, Reverence, Testimony
4. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).
GOSPEL PRINCIPLE: Sabbath
5. “Honour thy father and thy mother” (Exodus 20:12). This commandment remains binding throughout our lives and can be understood in several ways: We should honor our fathers and our mothers who are our ancestors; we should be grateful to the father and mother who provided our earthly bodies; we should honor those who raised us in the knowledge of the truth. Above all, we should honor our Heavenly Parents. The way we honor all these fathers and mothers is by keeping the commandments.
GOSPEL PRINCIPLE: Kindness, Honesty, Service, Forgiveness, Family, Gratitude, Love, Obedience
6. “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13).
GOSPEL PRINCIPLES: Kindness, Honesty, Word of Wisdom, Forgiveness, Love, Reverence
7. “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). In a latter-day revelation, the Lord condemned not only adultery, but “anything like unto it” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:6). Fornication, homosexuality, and other sexual sins are violations of the seventh commandment.
GOSPEL PRINCIPLES: Repentance, Kindness, Love, Forgiveness, Family, Obedience, Reverence
8. “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15). Stealing is a form of dishonesty.
GOSPEL PRINCIPLES: Tithing, Honesty, Service, Love, Obedience
9. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” (Exodus 20:16). Bearing false witness is another form of dishonesty.
GOSPEL PRINCIPLES: Kindness, Honesty, Service, Gratitude, Love, Reverence
10. “Thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:17). Coveting, or envying something that belongs to another, is damaging to the soul. It can consume our thoughts and plague us with constant unhappiness and dissatisfaction. It often leads to other sins and to financial indebtedness.
GOSPEL PRINCIPLES: Tithing, Kindness, Honesty, Service, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Love
THINGS WE SHOULDN’T AND SHOULD DO.
Although most of the Ten Commandments list things we should not do, they also represent things we should do. The Savior summarized the Ten Commandments in two principles—love for the Lord and love for our fellow men:
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
“This is the first and great commandment.
“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37–39).
GOSPEL PRINCIPLES: Prayer, Kindness, Honesty, Holy Ghost, Scriptures, Forgiveness, Missionary, Family, Gratitude, Love, Reverence, Testimony, Fasting
