For the STRENGTH OF YOUTH

OCTOBER – 1 Corinthians 6:18-20

“YOUR BODY IS SACRED“

CHURCH & HOME – LESSON PLAN

(In 20 minutes you can review the lesson (that YOUTH CAN TEACH). Then send youth home with a handout to place in their journal/notebook to reinforce gospel learning. Use one per week (printing all from the bundle or individually below).  

YOU’LL FIND:

#1 Activities BUNDLE For Lesson-Match Activities (shown right)

#2 “Strength of Youth” lesson (below or here) 

#3 Mutual Night ACTIVITIES (shown below)

BUNDLE Includes:

“YOUR BODY IS SACRED” Lesson Activities:
• 2 Color Quotes on Dating Standards and the Importance of Chastity;
• 1 Youth Goal Planner on Chastity, and
• 1 LESSON LIFESAVER activity on Caution: It’s a Jungle Out There (stay clear of temptations)

LESSON LIFESAVER Lessons and Activities

Your body is sacred.

1 Corinthians 6:18–20

Your body is an amazing gift from your Heavenly Father. Having a body gives you increased power to exercise your freedom to choose between right and wrong. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ can help you see your body from God’s perspective. And this makes a big difference in your choices about what to do with your body and how to care for it.

Your body is in the image of God—the most glorious, majestic Being in the universe. The scriptures compare our bodies to a holy temple, a place where the Spirit can dwell. Of course, your body is not perfect now. But the experiences you’re having with your body can help you prepare to one day receive a perfect, resurrected, glorified body.

Your soul is made up of your body and your spirit. For this reason, physical health and spiritual health are closely connected. The Savior revealed the Word of Wisdom to teach principles of caring for your body and to promise physical and spiritual blessings.

Sexual feelings are an important part of God’s plan to create happy marriages and eternal families. These feelings are not sinful—they are sacred. Because sexual feelings are so sacred and so powerful, God has given you His law of chastity to prepare you to use these feelings as He intends. The law of chastity states that God approves of sexual activity only between a man and a woman who are married. Many people ignore or even mock God’s law, but the Lord invites us to be His disciples and live a higher standard.

POST-AND-PRESENT Activity – My Special Body (Is a Temple)Tic-Tac-Toe Game. Remind youth that temples are places where Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father can come. Our body is like a temple, and God’s Holy Spirit can come and dwell in us. SEE MORE . . .

To make this possible, we must not let any unclean thing enter our body or defile it (show the 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 scripture poster to download HERE or below). Help children/youth memorize 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” SEE MORE …

Treat your body—and others’ bodies—with respect. As you make decisions about your clothing, hairstyle, and appearance, ask yourself, “Am I honoring my body as a sacred gift from God?” Heavenly Father wants us to see each other for who we really are: not just physical bodies but His beloved children with a divine destiny. Avoid styles that emphasize or bring inappropriate attention to your physical body instead of who you are as a child of God with an eternal future. Let moral cleanliness and love for God guide your choices. Seek counsel from your family.

Do things that will strengthen your body, not things that will hurt or damage it. Enjoy with gratitude the many good things God has provided. Remember that alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, and other harmful drugs and substances are not for your body or your spirit. Even helpful substances, like prescription drugs, can be destructive if not used correctly.

Keep sex and sexual feelings sacred. They should not be the subject of jokes or entertainment. Outside of marriage between a man and a woman, it is wrong to touch the private, sacred parts of another person’s body, even if clothed. In your choices about what you do, look at, read, listen to, think about, post, or text, avoid anything that purposely arouses lustful emotions in others or yourself. This includes pornography in any form. If you find that situations or activities make temptations stronger, avoid them. You know what these situations and activities are. And if you aren’t sure, the Spirit, your family, and your leaders can help you know. Show your Father in Heaven that you honor and respect the sacred power to create life.

YOUTH GOAL PLANNER. PROMISED BLESSINGS OF PURITY.  With this Planner, youth can search and ponder scriptures and goals. Then study and list PROMISED BLESSINGS of Being Sexually Clean and Pure. Also, state their Commitment to Be Chaste. SEE MORE …

YOUTH GOAL ACTIVITY. MY BIG DATING DECISIONS poster. Youth can learn six decisions regarding choosing a date and how the date should go to keep God’s commandments and be ready for the temple. For Example: “I will only attend activities that meet Church standards.” “I will save physical intimacies for marriage.” So many decisions could be made early with this post-a-decision list of plans of to-dos. Then youth don’t need to live with regret. SEE MORE …

IT’S A JUNGLE OUT THERE! QUICKSAND TRAPS: Set up a jungle scene with brown wrapping paper in the center to represent quicksand. Place a nice lounge chair with an umbrella with an intriguing drink on top of the quicksand. Take the youth through the jungle scene and end up focusing on the lounge chair scene.

Tell them that below the chair is quicksand. They would naturally stay away from quicksand if they knew it was there. But Satan’s traps are often disguised by trees in the jungle or in our lives by attractive objects or words that entice. Talk about Satan’s quicksand traps to pull you under into looking at pornography, necking, petting, intimacy, and sex. If we put our toes in the quicksand, we are tempted to go further until our feet and legs are stuck, and soon we are sitting in the quicksand. Before we realize it, we are up to our necks in Satan’s trap.

Have the youth sit down and write questions on slips of paper and place them in a box. Talk about the questions and how to avoid quicksand traps.

Plan what to say in situations where it may be difficult to say no (e.g., at a party if alcohol is offered and we drink, we can then easily lose control – see video LEAVE THE PARTY).

Heavenly Father reads or knows our thoughts, but Satan does not have that power. Satan can only read our actions. If we give in a little, he tempts us further. Don’t give him control by letting go of your values.

These Mutual Night Activities were written by Fern Law, a Young Women leader of six years – these are her experiences with the YOUTH. Collect them all; there are over 200 in this series.

President Boyd K. Packer’s April 1976 General Conference address titled “Spiritual Crocodiles” compares hidden spiritual dangers to camouflaged African crocodiles.  SEE VIDEO BELOW

Key Quotes and Concepts
The Analogy: Elder Packer shared a story about visiting a muddy water hole in Africa where nervous antelopes refused to drink because of unseen crocodiles hidden in the water.
Spiritual Dangers: He cautioned that some moral risks are far more dangerous than physical threats like a “monstrous lizard”. [1]
Spiritual First Aid: He explained that while the “spiritual crocodiles” can cause harm, the bishop of the ward provides the necessary help for healing, acting as the guide to mend those who have been “morally mauled”

SEE CAUTION! It’s a Jungle Out There!
quicksand word find puzzle  SEE MORE . . .

⇐ GO Back to September for The Strength of Youth “You Are Blessed By Priesthood Keys and Authority”

GO Next to NOVEMBER For The Strength of Youth “TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE” ⇒