10 Steps to Selfishness
By C.S. Bezas

It can be challenging to teach children to be selfless. So let's take the opposite approach in a light-hearted FHE. It will get your kids thinking and discussing why selflessness is so important. Time for some FHE Fun!

FHE Fun!

Opening Song: #78 I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus

Opening Prayer: By Invitation.

Devotional: Time for spontaneous sharing of favorite scriptures or meaningful moments discovered during the past week!

Activity:

           Items Needed:  2 pieces of paper and a pen

Write on the first piece of paper, "10 Steps to Selfishness." Gather the family around to brainstorm ten zany ways to be selfish. Turn down no idea. For example, here is what my family came up with (ok, admittedly more than 10 ideas, but they got really excited):

1. Make the house as messy as possible
2. Do what you want whenever you want
3. Don't listen to your parents at all
4. Break something and don't fix it
5. Take things without permission
6. Stay out late without calling
7. Make/play with stuff and don't put it back
8. Break promises
9. Hit when you are mad
10. Ignore family rules cuz you don't feel like living them
11. Spend all your free time with friends — none with your family
12. Be greedy whenever possible
13. Don't ever forgive
14. Be unwilling to change
15. Be self-gratifying
16. Like the world more than your family
17. Don't share — ever

Now pause to calm the zaniness down. Ask the family seriously to consider how it would feel to live in this kind of a household. What feelings would be present? Invite them to think: even if they would not want to live in this style of a home, are they creating it currently for others? What kind of home life is pleasant to live in? What kind of choices make it that way?

Explain that we came from such a home before this life. Ask: What will our heavenly home with God be like after this life? What kind of people will be allowed there? Here is a scriptural clue:

Again, what kind of people will feel comfortable in God's presence? Explain that we are on earth to practice these kinds of activities. One day those choices will actually feel normal if we persist in trying.

Pull out the second piece of paper and title it "10 Steps to Joy." Gather the family round again to brainstorm pathways to joy. When finished, invite testimony sharing about joyful living. Talk about the possibility of fasting as a family to invite the Lord's help to become a selfless family. And finally, to break the bands of selfishness, we must stay focused on our own choices and not point the finger at others' choices.

End by reading the following two scriptures.

And...

It came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness (2 Nephi 5:27).

May this be recorded also about our own families! As we look to others' needs first, we too will find joy and happiness within our own home.

Closing Song: #160 Choose the Right Way

Closing Prayer: By Invitation.

Refreshments: Tootsie Pops might be a fun FHE refreshment because they "last a good long time!" May the same be said for the joy of our families.

C.S. Bezas' book has been described as perfect for youth leaders and parents of teens. Powerful Tips for Powerful Teachers: Helping Youth Find Their Spiritual Wings is available in LDS bookstores and by clicking here.