Chapter 24: Leading in the Lord’s Way,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith Chapter 24: Leading in the Lord’s Way

Attention Activity:
Tell the class that there is going to be a re-election of the countries president. Rather than go through the whole election process it has been decided that you (meaning the members of the class) will simply select who you would like to be president. Have each class member write down two people that they would select as president. One must be someone that most people in the class will know and one must be someone that most people in the class will not know. For each person have the class member write a characteristic or two that would make this person a great president. Discuss answers and characteristics for a few minutes. (Make absolutely sure that you do not slip into a discussion on politics!)

Class Discussion:
Have the class look at the second paragraph under the heading “Leaders receive the wisdom they need from the Spirit…” to look for the three characteristics that Joseph Smith states that good leaders will posses. (humble, desire salvation of fellow man, and don’t seek own aggrandizement and selfish interests.) The next two sections deal with these three principles. Leaders love those they serve—they are humble. Leaders lead by example and service—seek the good of others. There are great quotes in these two sections to talk about. Some good questions to ask are, “How do you feel about leaders who have shown these qualities?” “How do you develop these type of attributes?” “Why do we follow those that lead by example?” “Why do we follow those that serve us?” “What do you see that would have made you willing to follow Joseph Smith?”

Application:
Ask the class, “What is the main characteristic that inspires us to follow the prophet?” Point out the first two paragraphs of page 284. The message is that prophets teach us correct principles and those principles come from God. We follow the prophet because we want to follow God. There are two questions you could ask: “What can we do to strengthen our ability to lead or families in this same pattern?” or “What specific principle would President Thomas S Monson ask you to live?” (You may want to read President Monson’s latest conference talks so that you are aware of what he was asking the Church as a whole in order to give a few ideas about what he might ask us individually.)