This blogpost features a lesson plan on being a wise steward and a half-sheet activity page to complement the Come Follow Me (CFM) reading for May 26 - June 1, which includes D&C 51-57. Click here for an index and links to my CFM blogposts for other weeks.
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Here is a sample lesson based on the section in the Come, Follow Me manual this week, entitled: "The Lord wants me to be a faithful, just, and wise steward." It's likely too much information for one class, so you'll need to adjust it for the age, understanding, and attention span of your class.
DEFINE THE WORD, "STEWARD":
I found this great definition on the church website, here. "A person who takes care of the affairs or property of another. That
which a steward cares for is called a stewardship. All things on earth
belong to the Lord; we are His stewards. We are accountable to the Lord,
but we may report on our stewardship to God’s authorized
representatives. When we receive a calling of service from the Lord or
His authorized servants, that stewardship may include both spiritual and
temporal affairs."
Make sure they really understand the concept that whenever we're given
something to take care of or to watch over that we are given
stewardship. This could be as simple as a chore they've been assigned, a
calling they have, making sure they are completing homework, helping
take care of a pet or younger sibling, etc.
DISCUSS THE KINDS OF THINGS EVERYONE HAS STEWARDSHIP OVER:
Talk about how there are certain things that God has blessed us with that everyone in the whole wide world has been given the same stewardship over for our whole lives. Ask if they have any thoughts first, before sharing my thoughts below. Each of these could make for a whole lesson in and of themselves, so keep it pretty short, unless this is the direction you feel inspired to go:
1. Our bodies: This is HUGE. Ask how many bodies each of us has? Of course the answer is ONE. Remind them that our bodies are a beautiful gift from Heavenly Father and that He expects us to take care of it, by exercising, getting enough sleep, and not putting harmful substances into it, etc. This is a stewardship we have our whole lives.
2. The world we live in: Every single person on the whole earth is a part of of the human community and we should do our best to be a wise steward of the beautiful earth that God created. This could mean not leaving trash outside, planting flowers, or finding ways to reduce energy usage.
3. Our spirits: Our parents can teach us and help us, but ultimately it's up to us whether we seek to stay close to Christ. We can be wise stewards when we turn away from internet sites, shows, music, books, and video games that would damage our spiritual sensitivity.
4. Our talents/spiritual gifts: Every person in the world has their own talents and spiritual gifts and Jesus taught that to be a wise steward, we should share those talents and gifts with others. Remind them that every person is unique and that we shouldn't compare our talents and gifts to another person's.
5. Our time: We each have 24-hours a day and to be wise stewards, we should be aware of those things in our life that distract us from doing what we need.
SUMMARIZE D&C 51:
Depending on the age of your students, you can have them skim the chapter and look for stewardship principles, or you can read a few key verses {51:8-9, 51:13-14, 51:18-19}. Or if your students are too young to read fluently, tell them about the examples of stewardship found in the aforementioned verses.
SHARE AN EXAMPLE FROM YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU'VE BEEN A STEWARD.
Talk about how you ended up with the responsibility and how you performed it.
GO AROUND THE ROOM AND ALLOW EVERYONE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE A TIME WHEN THEY'VE BEEN A STEWARD
Give them a minute to think and make sure to let them know you'll be going around the room and asking everyone to share. If someone is struggling to come up with one on their own, use prompts to help them think of something. If it's a student that just refuses to speak up, don't push it.
SHARE AN EXAMPLE FROM YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU HAVE NOT BEEN A FAITHFUL STEWARD.
Don't make this a long story, but share a time when you were trusted to take care of something and you failed. {this could be as simple as forgetting to feed the dog, not practicing your music, or not doing your chores...whatever you think will resonate with your class} Talk about the consequences of your failure and how it affected whomever or whatever you were given stewardship over. Maybe mention how it affected your relationship with the people who assigned you the stewardship.
DISCUSS: TRUST AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO STEWARDSHIP
After hearing your class members share about their experiences with stewardship and sharing your experience with failing at a stewardship, talk about how TRUST is an important part of stewardship. When we receive a calling or are given responsibility to do something, that means that that person trusts enough to follow through. Talk about how the best way to keep someone's trust is to honor that by being a wise and faithful steward.
DISCUSS THE IMPORTANCE OF REPENTANCE
Note: Keep this discussion super positive. Many people often have a negative view of repentance and think they're "bad" if they're not doing everything right and I think it's really important to discuss how everyone messes up sometimes and that Christ does not expect us to be perfect. What really matters is what we do when we do make mistakes. Do we seek to repent and change? Or do we keep on doing whatever it is we're doing?
BEAUTIFUL QUOTE FROM APRIL 2025 GENERAL CONFERENCE ABOUT REPENTANCE:
"It
saddens me to admit this, but I used to measure my relationship with
the Savior by how perfectly I was living. I thought an obedient life
meant I would never need to repent. And when I made mistakes, which was
every single day, I distanced myself from God, thinking, “He must be so
disappointed in me.” That’s just not true. I’ve learned that if you wait until you’re clean enough or perfect enough to go to the Savior, you’ve missed the whole point! What if we thought about commandments and obedience in a different way? I testify that while God cares about our mistakes, He cares more about what happens after we make a mistake. Are we going to turn to Him again and again? Are we going to stay in this covenant relationship?" Tamara Runia
TALK ABOUT HOW JESUS IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF BEING A WISE AND FAITHFUL STEWARD
Ask your students to think of examples from Jesus's life that showed that he was a wise and faithful steward. This list could be quite long, but here are a few I thought of:
1. his stewardship of teaching people the principles of the gospel
2. his stewardship of showing the power of the priesthood by healing and helping the sick and poor
3. his stewardship of loving and serving the people (even washing the disciples' dirty feet)
4. ultimately his stewardship of redeeming us from our sins.
CONCLUSION: ASK IF THEY CAN THINK OF ANY WAYS THAT THEY CAN FOLLOW THE SAVIOR'S EXAMPLE OF BEING A WISE STEWARD.
Listen to their thoughts and be encouraging.
Bear your testimony and finish up.
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ADDITIONAL STUDY MATERIAL:
My daughter pointed out to me that this recent Young Adult devotional by Sister Johnson goes along perfectly with this topic and would be good to add to your studies when preparing your lesson/talk on this topic.
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PRINTABLE CFM ACTIVITY SHEET
These
activity sheets are designed to print double-sided and cut in half.
They're perfect for reviewing or introducing the content found in the
Come, Follow Me reading each week and would be great used in a classroom
or home setting.
HERE IS THE LINK TO THE ACTIVITY SHEET, IN CASE IT'S NOT SHOWING BELOW.
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Be sure to bookmark this site and come back every week for more CFM material!
Enjoy learning the gospel together! 💗
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