Faithful to the End
Andrea Muñoz Spannaus, Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency
Sister Spannaus implores youth to strengthen faith in Christ through key spiritual stones.
Open talk in Gospel LibraryIdeas for Opening the Lesson
- Begin the lesson by sharing a personal experience of a time you had to face a "giant" in your life and how your faith helped you overcome it.
- Start the class by asking the members to share any big questions they've had about remaining faithful in a world full of sin, and how they've sought answers to those questions.
- Open the lesson with the story of David and Goliath, emphasizing David's faith and preparation. Ask the class members to think about what "stones" they have in their own lives to help them face their "giants".
Topics
Facing the Giants of Life with Faith
Sister Spannaus uses the story of David and Goliath to illustrate how we can face the "giants" or challenges in our lives with faith. She points out that David was prepared with five stones, which can represent the strengths we need to be triumphant in our own lives.
What if each of David’s stones represented a strength we need to be triumphant in our lives? What could those five stones be?
- What are some "giants" or challenges you are currently facing in your life?
- How does the story of David and Goliath inspire you to face your own challenges?
- What are some "stones" or strengths you have that can help you face your challenges?
- How can you better prepare yourself to face your "giants"?
- How have you seen God's hand in your life as you've faced your challenges?
Identifying Our Spiritual Strengths
Sister Spannaus suggests five possible "stones" or strengths that can help us remain faithful: our love for God, our faith in Jesus Christ, the knowledge of our true identity, daily repentance, and access to God's power. She discusses how each of these strengths bless our lives and help us overcome our challenges.
What if each of David’s stones represented a strength we need to be triumphant in our lives? What could those five stones be? I thought of these possibilities: The stone of my love for God. The stone of my faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ. The stone of the knowledge of my true identity. The stone of my daily repentance. The stone of my access to God’s power.
- How have these five "stones" or strengths helped you in your life?
- What are some ways you can strengthen your love for God?
- How does knowing your true identity as a child of God help you face your challenges?
- How does daily repentance help you remain faithful?
- How have you seen God's power in your life?
Invitation to Identify Additional Strengths
Sister Spannaus invites us to think about what other strengths we need to acquire to remain faithful to God and overcome the world. She suggests the "stone" of testimony as an additional strength.
Just as I chose stone number six, I invite you to meet with your class, quorum, or family and think about what other strengths you need to acquire to remain faithful to God and, therefore, overcome the world.
- What additional "stones" or strengths do you feel you need to acquire?
- How can you strengthen your testimony?
- How has your testimony helped you remain faithful?
- How can we help each other strengthen our "stones"?
- What steps can you take this week to acquire or strengthen a needed "stone"?
Additional Discussion Questions
- What does it mean to you to be 'faithful to the end'?
- How can we draw upon the power of Jesus Christ in our lives?
- What does it mean to have a 'connection' to Jesus Christ, and why is it important?
- How does thinking about Christ bring you peace and hope?
- How can we help the youth in our lives remain faithful?
- What role does the For the Strength of Youth guide play in helping us remain faithful?
- How can we better use the sacrament to help us remain faithful?
- How can we find joy in being faithful to God?
- How does knowing that God trusts us help us remain faithful?
- What are some practical ways we can 'look unto Christ in every thought'?
