Changing bad behaviors isn’t going to happen overnight, no matter how eager we may be to make it happen. The further into sin we are, the more difficult it will be to turn around. It’s important to help youth understand that making significant changes to better our lives needs to be a step-by-step process.

ACTIVITY

Scripture:

“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10).

Learning is a step-by-step process, whether we’re learning about how to change a tire, or how to turn away from sin. To help youth understand the process a little better, try putting together some ‘Stepwords.’

“Stepwords are pairs of words of equal length which can be changed from one to the other by switching one letter at a time and forming a new word with each letter switch. For example, change black to white by forming these words: black, slack, stack, stalk, stale, shale, whale, while, white. Make certain the words you choose can be changed (some can’t be). Some sample stepwords include dry-wet, heat-cold, east-west, poor-rich, sick-well” (Alma Heaton, The LDS Game Book, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1968], p. 152.)

Ideas:

1. If there are just a few youth, use a chalkboard or dry-erase board and see how many sets of words you can figure out. See if there are different ways to get from dry to wet, or sick to well. Let your youth come up with their own step words and see if you can make them work.

2. If there are lots of youth, split up into teams and see who can finish eat set of words first.

3. You could make a big game of it. Trace a lot (and I do mean a lot!) of footprints. On each of these footprints you’ll start with one word, such as black, and will write the changes on the other footprints until you reach white. Write a few footprints that will take you down a wrong path. It might look like it’ll get you to your end goal, but will become a dead end.

Tape the footprints on the floor in a sort of maze and have the youth try the maze one step at a time (space the youth at least 30 seconds apart, or let them go in teams).

If you have a lot of room (like a gym or cultural hall), use several of the word sets. Once your youth get to the end of one (going from black to white) make the next footprint the beginning of another set.

Lesson Application:

As we make turn away from sin we need to replace bits of the bad habit with bits of good habits (like changing the word one letter at a time). For example, say you have a huge problem with swearing. You could start off by changing the words you use. Make up nonsense words like ‘smag’ to replace the bad word. Begin singing a hymn whenever you feel the urge to swear. As you do this you’ll recognize what situations create that urge, and you can begin to avoid them.

Sometimes we think we have our goal in sight and we’re on the right path, but wind up hitting a dead end. Instead of becoming frustrated, angry, and resentful, we need to learn to turn around, backtrack to where we went wrong, and then start on the right path. We might need to do this several times before we finally make it to our goal.

Other times we might have different choices of how to get to our goal, and each of them will help us make it. Just as we are all different, the path we take may be different than the one our friends will take. We have to do what’s best for our own personalities and ways of living.

End with one more scripture. This one is taken from the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. I believe it brings Isaiah’s message into better light.

“For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have” (2 Nephi 28:30).

Have you found it difficult, since joining the church, to make some of the changes you need to make? Perhaps it’s time to focus on your thoughts instead of just thinking about your actions.

We seldom do something we’ve never even thought of doing. Before we sin, we’ve tossed it around our minds and perhaps imagined it. For this reason, learning to control our thoughts is very important to learning to live without sin.

Elder Dean Larson suggested this tactic: “In order to sustain constructive thinking, it’s necessary for us to have something worthwhile to think about, to have in reserve, … some items, some problems, some challenges, to which we can turn our minds, to think our way through to a solution.” (Quoted in “Lesson 9: Purity of Thought,” The Latter-day Saint Woman: Basic Manual for Women, Part B, 66.)

Elder Boyd K. Packer suggests memorizing church hymns you can sing when an inappropriate thought enters your mind. My mother used to help us memorize poetry we could recite during times when we needed to keep our thoughts moving in a good direction.

It’s helpful to have a plan in place for such times. Memorize things you can recite—poetry, hymns, scriptures—or make a mental list of topics to contemplate when you need your mind appropriately. Is there a problem to solve, a strategy to plan, or a fun activity to dream up? Can you think of people you know and what service you might give them? Give an imaginary talk or lesson in your head. I use times when I’m alone, such as when I’m doing housework or driving, to plan my writing for the day.

The secret is to have a plan. When the negative or inappropriate thoughts come to mind, you need to know exactly what to think of instead. When you don’t need to take time to figure out what to think of, your mind can go straight to work thinking and blocking out the negative thoughts.

Of course, it’s also important not to put yourself into a situation that might encourage inappropriate thoughts. Monitor your media, and your surroundings. Try to avoid people and places that will send your thoughts the wrong direction. When working in the home, put on appropriate music. Surround yourself with reminders of the gospel in your home and car. Keep a small picture of the Savior in your purse or wallet, where you can look at it when you need a reminder. This will help you keep your thoughts pure, which will make it easier to keep your actions pure.