Show Notes for Episode 6 of Teach Me to Walk in the Light Podcast. Learn how self-doubt is one of Satan’s greatest tools and 7 ways to overcome those negative feelings. Includes a FREE download and 3 teaching tips by John Bytheway on how to prepare a lesson along with a game your family is sure to love! 

 

 

 

 

 

FHE Outlines are available by email.

Sign up to receive weekly FHE Outlines delivered right to your inbox! Making FHE preparation as simple as possible for you!

**This Episode goes along with the New Testament Come Follow Me for February 4-10, 2019

PERSONAL STUDY [1:57]

In Matthew chapter 4 and Luke chapter 4 we read of how right after Jesus had fasted for 40 days, Satan comes to tempt Him. 

The first thing Satan tries to tempt Jesus into doing is to turn stone into bread. In Matthew 4:3 it says, “And when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

What I want you to notice here is how Satan says IF, IF thou be the Son of God. Satan is challenging Christ’s divine identity. Now I want you to think and ask yourself, “How often does Satan try to challenge my divine identity? How often, on a daily basis, do I question my identity and let thoughts of self-doubt flood my mind?”

          I. A story about Sherri Dew that was taken from a Deseret News article, entitled Sheri Dew: Living the Unexpected Life, by Doug Robinson. Click HERE

          II. A quote by Kevin J Worthen that was taken from his BYU Devotional entitled Fear Not:
“I am convinced that just as we have articles of faith, Satan and his minions must have articles of fear to aid them in their work. They might read something like this: “We believe that the first principles of despair and damnation are doubt God, doubt yourself, doubt others, and, most of all, be afraid—be very afraid of the future.”

          III. The law of occupied space: This law states that two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. This law also applies when it comes to the mind. You cannot have positive and negative thoughts in your mind at the same time. You cannot have faith and fear nor can you have self-belief and self-doubt in your mind at the same time.

          IV. Quote by President Monson:
“Remember that faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other.”

          V. 7 Ways to overcome and fight back Satan’s lies that he puts in our heads:

    1. Replace your negative thoughts with positive ones

Craig Manning, tennis player and Performance Psychology Consultant for BYU Athletics, in a 2017 BYU Speech entitled The Power of Your Words said:

“When I was a student at BYU, I realized that I needed to think more positively. I started working on this, and every time I caught myself thinking or talking to myself in negative, reactive ways, saying, “Your backhand stinks” or “Don’t miss that backhand,” I would stop that thought and immediately replace it with thoughts such as “I love my backhand” or “I am going to rip it down the line.” And instead of saying to myself, “School is tough; BYU is too hard for me,” I started telling myself, “I’ve got this; I can get good grades.” At some point I realized that I would always say to myself, “Don’t forget this” or “You’d better not forget this for the exam,” so one of my favorite phrases became “I will remember this.”

It took some time, but everything started to change. I was playing amazing tennis (at least for me), and I was studying half the time and getting better grades—a lot better. More important, there was no more fear. This change in thinking was a constant work in progress, and I constantly battled to apply the Lord’s lessons.” 

Decide ahead of time, determine right now what positive thoughts you are going to replace your negative thoughts with. Jot them down if you need to, put them on your phone and read them, if you need to, when you find those negative thoughts creeping in.

     2.  Do as the song says and Count Your Many Blessings, Name them one by one

When things go wrong in our lives it is so easy to lose all sense of perspective. We are impatient for instant solutions when often the answer is, give it time – give it time to allow things to work out.

Elder David S. Baxter of the Seventy (in a 2007 Conference talk entitled OVERCOMING FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY):

“A characteristic of a depressed spirit is an overconcentration on cares and concerns—an unwise wallowing in feelings of foreboding. What a difference it would make if, instead, we took account of our strengths, raised our eyes off the ground, and gave ourselves credit for how far we have already come and how much we have already achieved.” 

A great way to do this is to have a gratitude journal. Writing everything you are thankful for including all of the many tender mercies the Lord has shown you that day. 

     3. Serve Others

I still remember the time when I was a teenager and going through a hard time and talking with my mom, she shared with me her experience of how service had always helped her forget herself and feel happy inside. I was then soon able to find someone who was also struggling and my mom helped me put a care package together for this person. It was something that took time and preparation but as I worked on it and did it, it got me out of my funk of feeling like my life was miserable.

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) taught this when he said quote, “The more we serve our fellowmen in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls. We become more significant individuals. … Indeed, it is easier to ‘find’ ourselves because there is so much more of us to find!”

     4. Fresh Air and Exercise

Breathing fresh air stimulates your body to produce serotonin, a chemical that lightens your mood and increases feelings of calm and wellbeing. Exercise can do the same thing too. Hormones such as endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine are released when we increase physical activity making us feel happier, calmer, and more stable.

     5. Ignore the Devil’s lies

Do as Jesus did and say, “Get thee hence, Satan!” Put these thoughts into perspective. Realize these are just lies that Satan is trying to get you to believe.

     6. Ask for help

Reach out to a family member or close friend and let them know you are feeling really down on yourself. And ask them to help you see the good in yourself. Later, write down those things that they said so that you can go back and read them.

     7. Replenish Spiritual Reserves

Find time each day just to be still. Take a few moments each day to humbly pray, reflect and meditate. Giving the spirit a chance to speak to you. Also, make it a point to fill your mind with spiritual things by reading church materials like church magazines, read your scriptures, attend your Sunday meetings, or listen to hymns. The more we fill our reserves, the more we exercise faith and come closer to the Savior, we will feel an ever-increasing sense of value and self-worth.

          VI. Doubt in ourselves and who we are is one of Satan’s biggest lies. We are so much greater than we give ourselves credit for. Remember that.

 

FHE [15:18]

 

FREE 7 Ways to Overcome Feelings of Self-Doubt Download

 

 

FHE Outlines are now only available through the Teach Me FHE Email Group

Sign up to receive your weekly FHE Outlines delivered right to your inbox! Making FHE preparation as easy as possible for you!

*Sign up at the top of the page under the recording*

 

TEACHING TIP [22:18]

I heard someone ask John Bytheway the question, “How do you put together a lesson plan?” I jotted down a few key things that really stood out to me that he said. They are: 

1. He begins with the end in mind. He comes up with the main thing he wants his students to remember from his lesson when it’s all done. Then he keeps that in mind as he prepares.
2. Stories – John loves to add a variety of stories and then he finds scriptures to back up the story and what he’s trying to teach. He also looks for quotes from living or more recent conference talks to add in.
3. He says he always has more than enough material and that being over prepared is ok. And he gave the advice to not try and use it all, use what fits with the discussion. He was sure to say that yes lead a discussion but remember you are still the teacher so it’s important for you to provide the doctrine. You’re not just a discussion leader, you are the teacher.

 

#taketimeforfamily [23:43]

Today’s idea is a game. It’s kinda like Catch Phrase with a little bit of Charades thrown in. This is how you play:

1. Give everyone 3 strips of paper and a pen/pencil.
2. Have everyone write down a Name on each of their 3 strips of paper. The name could be of a real person like your next-door neighbor, it could be a cartoon character like SpongeBob, it could be a celebrity like Will Smith or it could even be the name of your cat. Make sure it is a name that everyone would know who you were referring to if you said it.
3. Put all of the papers in a bowl.
4. Divide up into 2 teams.
5. There are 3 rounds.
6. The first round is similar to Catch Phrase if you’ve ever played that. One team goes first. I’ll call them Team A. Someone from Team A has 60 seconds to try and get their other team members to guess as many names as they can.

So basically, that person draws a name from the bowl one at a time and they can say whatever they want to say to help their team members guess whose name they have. The only things they can’t say is one, you can’t say any form of the name or two, a word that rhymes with the name. When their teammates guess a name right, they set that paper aside and draw another name and keep going until their 60 seconds is up.

You can have up to 2 SKIPS if you want. If you skip a name you draw out, just put it back in the bowl. When that person’s 60 seconds are up you count how many names were guessed correctly and their team gets that many points. Then it’s Team B’s turn.

You continue back and forth, taking turns between teams until all of the names in the bowl have been guessed correctly. Each time a team has a new turn, they have to give another person on their team a chance to give the clues. No one should go twice until everyone on their team has had a turn. And there’s a good chance you will have multiples of the same name in the bowl, and that’s ok.

7. Round 2, you put all the names back into the bowl. You play the same way as Round 1 except this time you are only allowed to say 1 word. You can only give 1 clue. Makes it a little bit harder but everyone has heard all the names that are in the bowl from Round 1, so they have to use their memories to remember who is in there and remember what has been said.
8. Round 3, is played the same as round 1 and 2 except this time, you have to act out the name just like playing charades.

 

Be sure and take pictures and post them on social media with #taketimeforfamily. 

Yours Truly,

P.S. Be sure and sign up to receive the monthly Finding JOY Newsletter that is packed with lots of great gospel resources. Helping you be the most effective teacher you can be at home and in your calling.