Spiritual Thought for Teaching in the Savior's Way

What a Spiritual Thought Is Meant to Do

Worth knowing before you start: the phrase spiritual thought does not appear in Teaching in the Savior's Way. The resource speaks of principles, of teaching by the Spirit, and of teacher council meetings. The phrase comes from elsewhere in the Church's teacher training, where President Henry B. Eyring is quoted saying, "For most of us a devotional might include music, prayer, and a spiritual thought—often in that order." That is a description of a devotional's shape, not a named part of the resource.

That same training describes what a spiritual thought is for. Not a summary, and not a small talk. It is one person reading a scripture that touched them and saying what they felt. President Eyring's suggested invitation is the clearest description of the form anywhere: "I know that you have been touched by something you have read in the scriptures. Could you read that scripture to us and tell us what you felt?"

So the four below are not scripts to perform. Each gives you the principle, the resource's own words, and the verse. The part that carries is the sentence you add about what the verse meant to you.

One: Love Those You Teach

Under this principle the resource lists five things: see learners the way God sees them; seek to know them, understand their circumstances, needs, and strengths; pray for them by name; create a safe environment where all are respected and know their contributions are valued; and find appropriate ways to express your love.

Pray for them by name is the one to read slowly. It is the smallest item on that list and the only one that costs you something before Sunday ever arrives.

The first scripture the chapter cites is John 13:34 to 35: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

The measure in that verse is not how much the class learned. It is what they can tell about the Savior from the way they were treated in the room.

Two: Teach by the Spirit

The resource lists five things here as well: prepare yourself spiritually; always be ready to respond to spiritual promptings about the needs of learners; create settings and opportunities for learners to be taught by the Holy Ghost; help learners seek, recognize, and act on personal revelation; and bear testimony often, and invite learners to share their feelings, experiences, and testimonies.

Notice that four of the five are about making room rather than about performing. Only one of them is something you say.

The first scripture this chapter cites is Doctrine and Covenants 100:8: "And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say."

The promise is attached to a condition. A teacher who is worried about being interesting can read that verse and find that being interesting was never the assignment.

Three: Teach the Doctrine

Five again: learn the doctrine of Jesus Christ for yourself; teach from the scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets; help learners seek, recognize, and understand truths in the scriptures; focus on truths that lead to conversion and build faith in Jesus Christ; and help learners find personal relevance in the doctrine of Jesus Christ.

The first is the one people skip. Learn it for yourself comes before teach it, and in that order for a reason.

The chapter opens on John 7:15 to 16, where people are puzzled by where the Savior's learning came from: "And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me."

There is relief in that answer for anyone who has ever felt underqualified to teach a class. The Savior did not claim the material as His own. Neither do we.

Four: Invite Diligent Learning

The five: help learners take responsibility for their learning; encourage learners to come to know the Savior by studying the gospel daily; invite learners to prepare to learn; encourage learners to share the truths they are learning; and invite learners to live what they are learning.

Every one of them is something the learner does. None of them is something you do to them.

This chapter opens on Peter walking out onto the water, Matthew 14:29: "And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus."

Peter had to leave the boat. Nobody carried him. The verse the chapter returns to later says the same thing in a different register, Doctrine and Covenants 88:118: "And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith."

A class that leaves having been impressed has not necessarily left the boat.

If You Are Asking Someone Else to Give the Spiritual Thought

The Church's teacher training gives the exact wording, and it is worth using rather than improving on. President Eyring's suggested invitation is to ask someone to read a scripture that has touched them and tell the group what they felt.

The training also explains why the timing matters as much as the words: "When that invitation is given early enough, a powerful sequence will begin. The student will listen more carefully for those quiet whisperings of the Spirit as he or she reads."

Asked on the way into the room, it becomes a task. Asked a week out, it becomes a week of that person reading differently. The training notes that the class will then "have been taught by the Spirit before we begin to teach the curriculum."