Choose Your Friends Wisely, For You Will Tend to Be Like Them
Prepared by Cheryl Jorgensen
Purpose:
By coloring large letters that spell FRIENDS, you will show how friends, whether they are good or bad can easily rub off on you.
Preparation:
Pencil for each student and a piece of paper with the word FRIENDS on it written in bubble letters for each student OR do the alternate option using chalk and the chalkboard for the “Object Lesson”
Print the color PDF of the "Choose Your Friends Wisely" (10 handouts); making sure to choose "Actual Size" under Page Sizing & Handling when printing; cut into 10 handouts—NOTE: These are for personal use only
Attach the cut handouts onto 2" x 3-1/2" adhesive magnets
Print copies of the story "The Sign on the Wall"
Print out quotes #1 and #2
Write the following scriptures for the “Class Activity” on the side of the chalkboard or typed out for each student
Proverbs 13:20
Proverbs 18:24
Proverbs 20:19
Proverbs 22:24-25
Proverbs 23:20-21
Proverbs 24:21-22
Proverbs 25:18-20
Proverbs 27:6
Proverbs 27:9
1 Corinthians 15:33
Pencil/Pen and paper for each student for the “Class Activity”
FOR THE OBJECT LESSON:
Before class print out the word FRIENDS in large bubble letters, about two inches high.
During class, give each student a sheet of paper with FRIENDS printed on it and a pencil.
Tell them to use the pencil to color in all the letters completely and very dark with the pencil. This may take a few minutes.
After they are finished, you will have them rub their fingers over the letters to see that the graphite from the word friends has rubbed off on them.
Alternate option: You may also have someone write the word "Friends" on the chalkboard and then have them rub the letters instead of using a pencil and paper.
Lesson Outline:
TEACHER READ:
"The friends you choose in life can have a big impact on the way you act. Friends can influence what type of clothes you wear, the type of music you listen to, what you believe, the words you use when you speak, the way you treat others, and the list goes on and on. In other words, friends can rub off on you."
TEACHER PASS OUT:
3x5 Cards and ask class members to think about friends they’ve had in their lives. Have them write down one trait they admired in one of their friends and one trait they did not like in a friend.
TEACHER HAND OUT COPIES OF THE STORY AND THEN TAKE TURNS READING:
I would like us to read a short story from the August 2004 issue of the New Era magazine which inspired this lesson called, “The Sign on the Wall.”
Quote #1
There is a temptation for girls to reach out to the first available friend, settling instead of choosing. Ezra Taft Benson said, "Have good associates or don’t associate at all. Be careful in the selection of your friends. If in the presence of certain persons you are lifted to nobler heights, you are in good company. But if your friends or associates encourage base thoughts, then you had best leave them.”
(Ezra Taft Benson, God, Family, Country: Our Three Great Loyalties, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974, p. 241.)
TEACHER:
Encourage the members of your class to wait for the RIGHT friends.
This does not mean they can't have friends who are members of a different religion; it means that the friends the end up choosing should honor their standards.
It also does not mean they have to wait for a perfect friend, only that they need to wait for one who will help them to be the best they can be.
INTRODUCE THE CLASS ACTIVITY:
We find numerous examples in the scriptures where our Heavenly Father has mentioned traits found in good and bad friends. In Proverbs 12:26 we read: “A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
CLASS ACTIVITY:
Choosing Your Friends Wisely—Advise from the scriptures on friend selection
Instruct class members to write
People You Don't Want As Friends
Gossips - Proverbs 20:19
Short-tempered - Proverbs 22:24-25
Those who drink - Proverbs 23:20-21 (Do not join those who drink wine)
The rebellious - Proverbs 24:21-22
Liars, those untrustworthy, and those inconsiderate - Proverbs 25:18-20
The wrong kind of friends can be a corrupting influence on you - 1 Corinthians 15:33
The Kind of Friends You Want
Those who display wisdom - Proverbs 13:20
Those who are loyal - Proverbs 18:24
Those who are not afraid to wound you - Proverbs 27:6
Those who give counsel - Proverbs 27:9
Discuss what people wrote on their 3x5 cards and ask:
What are some positive ways that your friends have rubbed off on you?
Conclusion:
Reader #2
"Friends" section from For the Strength of Youth, page 12
Choose friends who share your values so you can strengthen and encourage each other in living high standards.
To have good friends, be a good friend. Show genuine interest in others; smile and let them know you care about them. Treat everyone with kindness and respect, and refrain from judging and criticizing those around you. Do not participate in any form of bullying. Make a special effort to be a friend to those who are shy or lonely, have special needs, or do not feel included.
Bear Testimony of the need to have good friends in our lives.
Hand out Magnets to Class Members