I Can Stand for Righteousness.

Exodus 32:1–5, 21–24

Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 “Exodus 24; 31–34” When the Israelites told Aaron to make a golden idol, he agreed to do it, even though this was wrong (see Deuteronomy 9:20). Consider how you can encourage the children to stand for righteousness, even when others pressure them not to.

• Invite the children to read Exodus 32:1–5, 21–24, individually or in pairs, and share what they think Aaron should have done when the Israelites asked him to make a golden calf. How might Aaron have helped the people?
• Help the children think of situations they might face when other people ask them to do something they know is wrong. Ask the children to share ideas with each other about what to do in those situations.

Friend April 2019 “What’s on Your Mind” Fill in the the speaking bubbles with what you could say when someone tries to get you to do something that is not right. Try explaining why it’s important to you. Even if others don’t understand your reasons, ask them to be respectful.

Friend November 2017 “Peer Pressure Problems” Ideas on how to deal with peer pressure to avoid making wrong choices.
For additional teaching ideas also see Stand for the Right.

Friend July 2021 “Courage to Stand Alone” Activity page brining to mind moments and people who had courage to do the right thing. Also, ideas about how to gain courage.

Friend November 2015 Take turns acting out standing for truth using the provided scenarios. Link also includes other lesson ideas and a story.

Friend October 2016 “Family Night Fun” Acting out situations where a someone might dare you to do something. Also includes discussion and refreshment ideas.

Primary 4 Book of Mormon Lesson 16   Have the children choose a statement that they are willing to take a stand for. Give each child the opportunity to come to the front of the room and repeat their goal out loud. Example: “I will take a stand to never cheat!” (It is all right for several children to choose the same goal.)

I Can Stand Up For Others

Friend September 2023 “Building Respect” When Noah’s sister and her friends walked by, a friend of Noah’s said mean things about girls, and that they didn’t want to play with them. Noah stood up for his sister and asked his friend not to say things like that.

Stand for What You Believe

Friend February 2024 “Margo and Paulo” Margo refuses to go along with her friends plan to cheat on a test.

I can follow Jesus Christ by standing for the right.

Acts 6–7

Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Acts 6-9” What can the children learn from Stephen about being a follower of Jesus Christ?

Help the children create actions to go with a song about choosing the right, such as “Stand for the Right” (Children’s Songbook, 159).

Use Acts 7:51–60 to teach the children that Stephen taught about Jesus Christ, even though it made the Jewish leaders very angry (see also “Chapter 57: Wicked Men Kill Stephen,” in New Testament Stories, 150–51, or the corresponding video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org). How did Stephen stand for the right?

Give the children several scenarios of children who have to make a choice between right and wrong. Ask the children what they would do to stand for the right.

• Friend November 2017 “Peer Pressure Problems” Ideas on how to deal with peer pressure to avoid making wrong choices.

• Friend November 2015 Take turns acting out standing for truth using the provided scenarios. Link also includes other lesson ideas and a story.

• For additional teaching ideas also see Stand for the Right.

Friend July 2022 “Stand for What You Believe” Elder Rasband tells of his youth and often being the only Church member at school. He says that When we live the gospel, we will be different. The Apostle Peter said we would be “peculiar” (1 Peter 2:9). And that’s OK. We don’t need to worry about being different when we stand for what we believe. David stood for what he believed. He wasn’t alone. God’s power was with him. He beat Goliath. God will help us even when we face Goliath-sized challenges.

I Can Stand for the Right Despite Opposition.

Lesson 107: Ezra,” Old Testament Seminary Student Material (2018)

When the 50,000 Jews returned to Jerusalem, they encountered a group of people living nearby called Samaritans. The Samaritans were the “people who lived in Samaria after the northern kingdom of Israel was captured by the Assyrians. The Samaritans were partly Israelite and partly Gentile. Their religion was a mixture of Jewish and pagan beliefs and practices” (Guide to the Scriptures, “Samaritans,” scriptures.lds.org).

Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: Old Testament 2022 “Ezra 1; 3–7; Nehemiah 2; 4–6; 8” The Lord’s work rarely goes unopposed, and this was certainly true of the efforts led by Zerubbabel and Nehemiah. In both cases, the “adversaries of Judah” (Ezra 4:1) were Samaritans—descendants of Israelites who had mixed with the Gentiles. Reading about their opposition to building the temple (see Ezra 4–6) might lead you to ponder the opposition [you may face as you stand for the right.]

. According to verses 1–2, what did the Samaritans want to do?

1. Stop the Jews from building the temple
2. Build a different kind of temple
3. Help the Jews build the temple

2. What did Zerubbabel and the other Jewish leaders tell the Samaritans?

1. The Jews would build the temple themselves.
2. The Jews would be happy to have the Samaritans’ help.
3. The Samaritans must wait until the next year to help them.

3. How did the Samaritans respond when Zerubbabel and the other Jewish leaders rejected their offer?

1. They went away and left the Jews alone.
2. They discouraged the Jews from building the temple and created opposition.
3. They gave the Jews supplies for the building of the temple.

As a result of the Samaritans’ opposition, the temple’s construction stopped for several years (see Ezra 4:1–24; Haggai 1:2–6).

Our spiritual progress may halt if we don’t choose the right or if we listen to the opposition and give in.

Friend February 2020 “Matt & Mandy” When some kids find a wallet, Matt and his friend stand for the right by telling a boy, who wants to keep the money, that they need to return the wallet to its owner.

Friend September 2017 “Matt and Mandy” Matt tells some boys he doesn’t want to hear a bad joke even though they call him chicken.

Ezra CHAPTER 5

Haggai and Zechariah prophesy—Zerubbabel renews the building of the temple—The Samaritans challenge the Jews’ right to continue their building work.

Lesson 107: Ezra,” Old Testament Seminary Student Material (2018) We read in Ezra 5:1–2 that some of the Jews began to rebuild the temple again. When local Persian-appointed governors learned that the Jews had resumed building the temple, they questioned the Jews’ authority to do so and looked for ways to stop the construction.

Read Ezra 5:5, looking for why the local governors could not stop the Jews from rebuilding the temple.

What principle can we identify from the Jews’ experience of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem?

One principle we can identify from Ezra 5:5 is that God watches over and helps us as we seek to obey Him.

Friend July 2022 “Stand for What You Believe”David stood for what he believed. He wasn’t alone. God’s power was with him. He beat Goliath. God will help us even when we face Goliath-sized challenges.

Remember that previously (approximately 90 years earlier), the Persian king Cyrus had allowed many Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and establish a community there. The city, which at that time was without walls, was unsafe to live in. The people were in “great affliction” (verse 3), and the temple was in danger of being destroyed again.

Nehemiah 2:17–20; 6:1–9

Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 “Ezra 1; 3–7; Nehemiah 2; 4–6; 8” When Nehemiah was repairing the walls surrounding Jerusalem, his enemies tried to get him to stop, but he remained faithful to his task. What are some important things the Lord wants the children to do, and how can you inspire them to be faithful to that work?

• Share with the children the story of Nehemiah (see Nehemiah 2:17–20; 6:1–9; Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “We Are Doing a Great Work and Cannot Come Down,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2009, 59–62). Tell the children what Nehemiah said when people made fun of him for wanting to fix Jerusalem’s walls: “The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build” (Nehemiah 2:20). Invite the children to stand up and pretend to help fix the walls of Jerusalem.
• Bring some blocks to class, and let the children use them to help you build a wall (or draw a wall on the board). Help the children think of some important things Heavenly Father might ask them to do, like learning how to read the scriptures. With each idea they share, invite them to add a block to the wall. Explain that when Nehemiah was doing his important work of fixing Jerusalem’s walls, people tried to stop him. Read Nehemiah 6:9, and invite the children to raise their hands when you read “strengthen my hands.” Tell the children about a time when you felt God strengthen your hands to do His work.

Nehemiah 2; 4; 6

Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 “Ezra 1; 3–7; Nehemiah 2; 4–6; 8” The Lord has an important work for the children you teach. What can they learn from Nehemiah about persevering in that work even when they face opposition?

• Review with the children the story about Nehemiah repairing the walls surrounding Jerusalem, including the opposition he faced. Read together Nehemiah 2:19, and ask the children to share situations in which someone might laugh at us for doing the right thing. According to Nehemiah 2:20, how did Nehemiah respond? How can we respond when people make fun of us or criticize us for doing the right thing?

Friend November 2018 “Finders Keepers?” Mike finds some money on the school grounds and takes it to the office even though his friends think they should keep it and spend it.

• Read together Nehemiah 6:1–9. How did Nehemiah’s enemies repeatedly try to get him to stop working on the wall, and how did he respond? What work does God want us to do? (see, for example, Mosiah 18:8–10). How can we follow Nehemiah’s example in verse 9 when it’s difficult to do what God has asked us to do?

Describe how you can apply the phrase “I am doing a great work and cannot come down” (see Nehemiah 6:3) when you face opposition in doing God’s will. 

I can be faithful even when others make fun of me. (Sr)

Jude 1:18–22

Ask children to share times when others made fun of them or someone they know because they did what is right. Invite the children to read Jude 1:18–22 and look for how we can remain faithful when others mock or make fun of us. Write what they find on the board, and discuss ways they can follow this advice. (Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “1-3 John; Jude”)

Summarize Lehi’s dream (see 1 Nephi 8:1–35), asking a few children to read verses from 1 Nephi 8:26–28, 33. Discuss how the people in the great and spacious building were like the mockers Jude talked about. What can we do to not be influenced by those who make fun of us or don’t agree with what we believe? (see 1 Nephi 8:30, 33). (Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “1-3 John; Jude”)

People in a large building on the other side of the river made fun of those who ate the fruit. Some who had eaten the fruit became ashamed and left the tree.

God will bless me as I choose to follow Jesus Christ.

Daniel CHAPTER 3 Nebuchadnezzar creates a golden image and commands all men to worship it—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refuse and are cast into the fiery furnace—They are preserved and come out unharmed.

• Show a picture of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the fiery furnace (see Gospel Art Book, no. 25), and ask the children to count the people in the furnace. Read Daniel 3:24–25 to find out who else was in the furnace. Share your testimony that the Lord is with us as we follow Him.

Friend November 2022 “Saved from the Fire”

“Lesson 41: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,” Primary 6: Old Testament (1996), 180–84 Lesson ideas