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A young man stands with his scriptures in a class in the Philippines.2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.This story appears here courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not for use by other media.
By Brother Bradley R. Wilcox, First Counselor, Young Men General Presidency
The annual youth theme is used at For the Strength of Youth conferences and youth camps throughout the world. It guides music choices, activities and even youth sacrament meeting talks.
The youth theme for 2025 is found in Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 where we read, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” Members of the Young Women and Young Men general presidencies worried that the message might be misunderstood if youth were running around with T-shirts that said, “Look unto Me.” Thus, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints approved “Look unto Christ.”
Another way the theme might be misunderstood is if we do not take time to intentionally teach it so that youth can really internalize and understand it. Recently I asked three teachers in Religious Education at Brigham Young University — John Hilton III, Jan Martin and Tyler Griffin — for their advice about teaching the theme effectively.
John Hilton III
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John Hilton III is an author, speaker and professor in Religious Education at BYU. Photo by Kylea Knecht, courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.“Show learners a picture with lots of colorful objects and ask them to look for as many blue objects as they can find. After they have had time to do so, invite them to close their eyes and mentally see how many red items they can remember. Everyone is going to be upset with you because they were not told to focus on red items,” Hilton said. “That is when you can explain the whole point: We find what we are looking for. If they look for Christ, they will find Him. If they focus on doubts and fears, they will find them.”
Church President Russell M. Nelson has said, “When the focus of our lives is on Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening — or not happening — in our lives” (October 2016 general conference and Ensign, November 2016).
“Testify that as we focus on Christ, we will not only find Him, but we will also find great joy,” Hilton said.
Jan Martin
“Share personal experiences. Here is one from my life: During high school, I was a member of the diving team. One day, I was learning how to do a back flip without opening my tuck and straightening out too quickly or too late. If I did not do it at the right moment, my body would slap painfully on the surface of the water. Ouch,” she said.
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Jan Martin is a professor in Religious Education at Brigham Young University. Photo by Donovan Kelly, BYU, courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.“My coach told me to listen to her voice and she would shout, ‘open’ at the right time. It didn’t help. Finally, after many painful mistakes, she said, ‘Jan, you need to stop being afraid that I won’t call out to you in time. I will. Trust me.’ The next time I waited for her voice. It seemed like it took forever, but I didn’t straighten out until I heard her. The dive was perfect. Eventually, I learned to do the dive successfully on my own.”
Martin continued: “One way of looking to Him is listening to the Spirit. Rather than being doubtful and fearful that divine guidance will not come, I can trust that it will and listen for it.”
Elder Mathias Held, a General Authority Seventy, recently taught, “Our world today is often characterized by fear and anxiety — fear of what the future might bring for us. But Jesus has taught us to trust and ‘look unto [Him] in every thought; doubt not, fear not’” (April 2024 general conference and “Liahona,” May 2024).
Tyler Griffin
“The Lord describes us as his friends (see John 15:14-15). Ask learners to describe a true friend. They might talk about how true friends are forgiving, encouraging and good listeners. Ask them to compare their list to attributes of Christ and testify that He is a true friend,” Griffin said.
“Next, ask them to create a list of a not-so-ideal friend or a fair-weather friend. They might include being distant, judgmental, temperamental, negative and demanding. Ask them to consider what kind of friend they are to Christ. Ask them to zero in on one thing they can do to improve their attitudes and behaviors in their covenant relationship with the Lord.”
Griffin concluded, “Invite learners to look unto their true friend in every thought and not just in moments of serious need and trouble.”
