A family home evening lesson designed to teach family members that our bodies and minds are gifts from a loving Heavenly Father. They are temples for our spirits and they are not to be defiled or mistreated.FHE Lesson is in full-color and is ready to print, cut, and use!
For more ready‐to‐print FHE lessons visit http://thegoldenseven.blogspot.com . My Body is a Temple: I will Keep My Body and Mind Sacred and Pure FHE Lesson by Missy Felsted, Digitized and adapted by Lara Goold Materials needed: Scriptures, clear packing tape (to tape the boy and girl visuals together), bag or basket to place the other visuals from the boy/girl activity, bag or basket for the situation slips and activity Purpose: A lesson designed to teach family members that our bodies and minds are gifts from a loving Heavenly Father. They are temples for our spirits and they are not to be defiled or mistreated. Scripture: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? …for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are..” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Opening song(s) and prayer: “The Lord Gave Me a Temple,” Children’s Songbook, page 153 Lesson: Attention Discussion (with picture of Temple): Show the picture of the temple. Discuss how it looks, emphasizing its beauty. Note that its characteristics are different from other temples, yet they are all beautiful. Each temple is different, but to enter into the temple one must be worthy and keeping the commandments of God. This is to keep the temple sacred and pure on the inside. Lesson Development: Just like the temple today, there were temples during the time of Jesus Christ. These temples were sacred just as they are today. Jesus cleansing the temple (summary and picture included): Using the summary and picture, retell the story of Jesus cleansing the temple. Discussion: The temple is a sacred place. You are like the temple. You are different from everyone else, but you, too, are a house for the Spirit of God (the Holy Ghost). The Apostle Paul said: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? …for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are..” Your body is a temple. Ask: Would you color on the picture of the temple with a black marker? Would you rip the picture? Would you crumple the picture and toss it in the trash? Answer: Just as you treat temples with respect, you should treat your own body and mind with respect. You can do this in many ways.
by Missy Felsted, Digitized and adapted by Lara Goold Materials needed: Scriptures, clear packing tape (to tape the boy and girl visuals together), bag or basket to place the
other visuals from the boy/girl activity, bag or basket for the situation slips and activity
Purpose: A lesson designed to teach family members that our bodies and minds are gifts from a loving Heavenly Father. They are temples for our spirits and they are not to be defiled or mistreated.
Scripture: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? …for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are..” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Opening song(s) and prayer: “The Lord Gave Me a Temple,” Children’s Songbook, page 153
Lesson: Attention Discussion (with picture of Temple): Show the picture of the temple. Discuss how it looks, emphasizing its beauty. Note that its characteristics are different from other temples, yet they are all beautiful. Each temple is different, but to enter into the temple one must be worthy and keeping the commandments of God. This is to keep the temple sacred and pure on the inside. Lesson Development: Just like the temple today, there were temples during the time of Jesus Christ. These temples were sacred just as they are today. Jesus cleansing the temple (summary and picture included): Using the summary and picture, retell the story of Jesus cleansing the temple. Discussion: The temple is a sacred place. You are like the temple. You are different from everyone else, but you, too, are a house for the Spirit of God (the Holy Ghost). The Apostle Paul said: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? …for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are..” Your body is a temple. Ask: Would you color on the picture of the temple with a black marker? Would you rip the picture? Would you crumple the picture and toss it in the trash? Answer: Just as you treat temples with respect, you should treat your own body and mind with respect. You can do this in many ways.
Activity (need boy & girl and garbage can visuals) Using the enclosed activity, place the boy and girl and the garbage can on a presentation board or wall. Have each child pick a visual from the bag. When each visual is chosen, discuss what it says and whether the visual is good (place by the boy and girl) or whether it is bad for the body and mind (place by the garbage can). Continue until all visuals have been chosen. Discussion/Demonstration (need picture #2) Satan uses our minds and bodies to lead us away from our Heavenly Father. There are so many ways that he can use this tool. For example, our minds can remember things even if we only see or hear things for a few seconds. Demonstrate this by showing the family the enclosed picture (which is not related to the lesson topic). Show the picture for 5 seconds. Take the picture away and ask the family questions about it. “What was the picture about?” “How many people were there?” “What were they doing?” etc. Tell the children that our minds can remember things even if we only look a them for a short time. Satan wants us to look at movies, magazines, websites, books, etc that are harmful and destructive to our spirits and he knows we don’t have to see them very long for us to remember them. Additionally, music is very powerful. Have a child hum a tune to a song and see how many family members know the words to the song. Explain to family members that the words to the music become part of their memories even if they do not realize it. We must listen to, read, and participate in activities that invite the spirit of the Lord into our hearts. (NOTE: This discussion is geared more for elementary age kids, but we used this part of the lesson to discuss with our teens in more depth some of the tools Satan uses to get us ensnared in evil influences and how they can avoid them.) Escaping from Evil Activity (need situation slips) Take turns picking a situation slip. After the situation is read have the person act out what they should do if faced with that situation. (Some possible solutions: Run away from it, turn your head, plug your ears, hum a hymn, turn it off, find a new friend, throw it away, etc.) My Body is a Temple wheel: Using metal craft brads, put the wheel together to keep in the church bag and to help remind us how our bodies are temples. Bear your testimony about the importance of being keeping our bodies and minds clean and pure. Remind them of the beauty and cleanliness of each temple building and how we should be striving to keep that same purity in our lives.
Closing song: “Choose the Right Way,” Children’s Songbook, page 160
Enrichment: Based on the ages and attention spans of your children, choose one or more of the following enrichment activities to enhance the message of the lesson. Enrichment activities do not necessarily need to be completed on the same night as the lesson. We often use them as reinforcement/reminders during the week.
Create a Collage: Using magazines or other printed materials of things that are good for the body and mind, create a collage. Examples include pictures of good food, exercise, good books, uplifting music etc. Tape the collage to each child’s bedroom door as a reminder to participate in things that are good for the mind and body.
Healthy Silhouettes: Using a large piece of paper for each person, trace a silhouette of each person’s head. This can be done by taping the paper to the wall and placing the child between a lamp and the wall. After the silhouette is drawn, have each person draw things in their “mind” that are uplifting and welcome the spirit.
Chocolate Chip “Pizzookies” From http://recipeshoebox.blogspot.com The ingredients:. 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 cup brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. almond extract 1/2 cup almond meal (whole almonds ground in the blender) 2 cups flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 1-1/4 cups oats 1 pkg. (12-oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips Directions: Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar together. Then add eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and almond meal until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, baking soda, and oats. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture just until blended. Fold in chocolate chips. At this point, you can make them into the best chocolate chip cookies ever and bake them for 5-7 minutes at 350°. Or you can make them into "Pizzookies" by filling custard cups about 1/2 full with the cookie dough and baking at 350° for about 15 minutes or until top is golden brown and center is sunken. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Makes 4 dozen cookies or 8-10 "pizzookies". Enjoy!
In Jesus’ day, worshippers could go to the courtyard of the temple to buy animals for sacrifice and exchange their money for temple coins. The temple soon became rowdy and noisy—like a marketplace instead of a holy place. Even worse, some of the merchants stole from and cheated people in the temple’s courtyard. The Spirit of God could no longer be in the temple. Jesus was sad that his Father’s house was “spoiled” by dishonesty and corruption. He drove out all the traders with their animals and money. He told them not to make his Father’s house a place of corrupt business anymore. In the scriptures we read that, “The Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples” (Helaman 4:24) Our bodies are like temples. Just as the spirit withdrew from the temple building, the spirit will withdraw from our temples (our bodies) if we do not remain clean. If we take things that do not belong to us, if we do not keep the commandments, if we cheat and are irreverent, we too will lose the Spirit. If we do something wrong, we need to repent, which is like letting Jesus cleanse our temple. Then we will feel the peace and love the Spirit welcomes.
Picture #2—This picture is unrelated to the lesson and is used in discussion to show the things our brain remembers after being shown for a short time.
You’re on the computer doing some research for a project and you accidentally come across some bad pictures. What do you do? (Close out the page, walk away immediately, tell your parents, and have your parents help you to avoid that with the rest of the research.)
You’re watching your favorite tv show and a scary commercial comes on. What do you do? (Close your eyes, plug your ears, walk away for a minute)
Your friend tells you to try this energy drink and tells you that it’s perfectly harmless and that it will give you a buzz. What should you do? (Say No, talk to your parents about energy drinks when you get home)
You’re at your friend’s house and he shows you some yucky magazines that his dad keeps in his room. What should you do? (Say no, close your eyes, walk away, call parents if he doesn’t put them away, maybe don’t play at that friend’s house anymore)
You’re at a party and a friend starts to tell a story that uses bad language. What should you do? (Change the subject, walk away and talk to someone else for a while)
You’re at your friend’s house and he wants to watch a rated “R” movie. You’ve seen the commercials for it and it looks really cool. What should you do? (Suggest a different movie, tell him that you don’t watch rated R movies, if he insists on watching it anyway call your parents to have them pick you up.)
Someone left the television on in the basement and no one is there. There’s a show on that you know you shouldn’t watch, but since no one is there you’re tempted to watch it for only a little while. What should you do? (Turn it off, walk away)
Your friend invites you to her house and when you get there, you realize that her parents aren’t there. She asks if you want to try a sip of beer from the fridge. She says it’s only a taste and won’t hurt you. What should you do? (Say NO!!! and go home. You should not be at other people’s houses when their parents are not home. Call your own parents if you need to.)
You’re reading a book that a lot of kids in class are reading too. You’re only a couple of chapters into the book, but you realize that it has a lot of bad language and dwells on some inappropriate topics. What should you do? (Put the book down, return it to the library or give it away as soon as possible, talk to your parents)
Your friend let you borrow his new video game that all the kids in school are talking about. It has a lot of violence and some immodestly dressed people in it. It is a lot of fun though too. What should you do? (Turn off the video game system, put the game in your backpack and return the game, talk to your parents)
You’re listening to your favorite radio station and a new song from your favorite artist comes on. The tune is catchy, but you notice that it has some inappropriate lyrics. What should you do? (Turn the station, hum a hymn to get the tune out of your head,)
You’re playing outside and an older neighbor boy comes over and offers you some “candy” that will make you feel really funny inside. What should you do? (say no and go inside immediately to talk to your parents, you should never ever take anything into your body that will make you feel funny)
