Come Follow Me · Young Women · June 8-14
The Lord Looketh on the Heart
Ask first. Let the girls answer before you fill in. The conversation is the lesson.
Page 1 · How to teach this
For your prep. Read it, then set it aside. You teach from page 2, not this page.
The method
- Ask first, then wait. Put the question out and let the quiet sit. Do not rush to rescue it. The Spirit teaches in that gap, and teenage girls need a beat before they speak.
- Let them answer before you fill in. The bullets are there to backfill what they miss, not a script. Say them, do not read them. If a girl says it first, you do not have to.
- You are the host, not the expert. Let the class carry it. Their words will stick longer than yours.
- Assume some girls are new to all of this. Each section has a short box that explains the churchy words in plain language. Use them out loud the first time a word comes up, so nobody feels lost or behind.
- Someone reads each scripture aloud from their own scriptures or phone, then you give the one-line “here is what that means.”
- End every section on the Savior, then move to the next color.
Notes just for this lesson
- This whole week is one story: Israel demands a king, that king (Saul) rises and then falls, and God picks young David instead. Keep one thread visible the entire hour: God measures the heart, not the outside.
- Sections 3 (obeying the hard part) and 4 (the heart) are the deep end. Slow down there and let them land. If you only get through two sections well, make sure one of them is section 4.
- You have a full hour to fill until the schedule shortens in the fall. Each section has an “If you have time” floor of extra questions at the bottom. Pull from those to stretch a discussion that is going well. You do not have to use them, they are there so you never run dry.
- Someone may know David and Goliath is coming. That is next week. Today is the setup, so resist jumping ahead.
The aim today: every girl walks out starting to measure herself the way God does, by the heart, and believing she is seen and chosen even on a day the world overlooks her.
Now set this page aside. Teach from page 2.
Page 2 · Lesson at a glance: your map for the whole class
Work one color at a time, in order. Glance here whenever you lose your place. Each color is a full page behind this one.
Open Tell me about your week. Anything you want to share before we start?
The setup 1 Samuel 8-16. Israel asks for a king so they can be like everyone else. The king they get, Saul, looks perfect but slowly loses his way. So God sends the prophet Samuel to anoint a new king, and He picks the one boy nobody thought to invite. One truth runs through all of it: the Lord looks on the heart, not the outside.
1
“Give Us a King”
Ask: “Where do you feel pressure to be like everyone else?”
2
Saul Looked the Part
Ask: “Saul looked perfect on the outside. Why wasn’t that enough?”
3
Obeying the Hard Part Too
Ask: “Is it really obeying if you only do the easy parts?”
4
The Lord Looketh on the Heart
Ask: “God chose the boy nobody invited. What does that say about how He sees YOU?”
Close Invite each girl to take one place where the mirror, the feed, or the crowd has been telling her what she is worth, and give it to the Lord this week.
Ask the class
Where do you feel pressure to be like everyone else?
(ask it, then let them answer first. don’t rescue the quiet.)
First, the words
Prophet A man God chooses to speak for Him and lead His people. Samuel was the prophet back then. We have one today too.
now tell the story and fill the gaps
The story in plain words (say it, don’t read it)
- For a long time, Israel did not have a king. God Himself was their King, and He led them through prophets. They were different from every country around them, on purpose.
- Then the people came to the prophet Samuel and said: give us a king so we can be “like all the nations.” In other words, we want to fit in.
- God told Samuel something sad: they are not really rejecting you, they are rejecting Me as their King.
- Samuel warned them exactly what a king would cost. He will take your sons, your daughters, your money, the best of everything. They heard the whole warning and said: give us a king anyway.
- We do the same thing. We trade what God offers for what the world has, just because the world’s way looks more normal, or safer, or like it will get us liked.
Have someone read
1 Samuel 8:7
And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
Here’s what that means: when we push God out so we can blend in, we are doing the same thing Israel did. We are trading the King for the crowd.
Turn to the Savior
Israel wanted a king to fight their battles. Jesus Christ is the King who never takes from you, only gives. He fought the hardest battle for you already, and He asks for one thing back: your heart.
Ask: where am I choosing the crowd’s way over the Lord’s way?
If you have time (the floor)
- When have you wanted something mostly because everyone else had it?
- What does it actually cost you to try to “look like everyone else”? Time, money, peace, who you really are?
- God let them have the king even though it was the wrong choice. Why does He sometimes let us have the very thing we insist on?
Ask the class
Saul looked perfect on the outside. So why wasn’t that enough?
(ask it, then let them answer first. don’t rescue the quiet.)
First, the words
The Spirit The Holy Ghost, God’s power and presence that comes into a person to guide and change them. When “the Spirit came upon” someone, God was working in them.
now tell the story and fill the gaps
The story in plain words (say it, don’t read it)
- God picked Saul to be the first king, and on paper he was the obvious choice. He was tall, good looking, taller than anyone in Israel. Total central-casting king.
- And he started well. He was humble. God even gave him “another heart,” the Spirit came on him, he was changed and full of promise.
- But looking the part, and even starting strong, is not the same as finishing strong. Saul’s good looks did not keep him humble. His strong start did not keep him obedient.
- Here is the lesson already forming: what you look like, and how you start, matters way less than what you do with your heart over time.
Have someone read
1 Samuel 9:2
And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
Here’s what that means: Saul was the best-looking guy in the country. And it still was not enough, because God was watching something the camera can’t catch.
Turn to the Savior
The scriptures say the Savior had “no form nor comeliness” that the world would notice. He was not the one anyone would have picked out of a lineup, yet He was perfect on the inside. He teaches us to stop reading the cover and start reading the heart.
Ask: where am I judging by appearance, my own or someone else’s?
If you have time (the floor)
- Have you ever been really impressed by someone, then found out they were totally different on the inside?
- Why do we instantly trust people who are pretty, polished, or confident?
- Social media only shows the outside. How does that change the way you see yourself? The way you see other girls?
3
Obeying the Hard Part Too
Is it really obeying if you only do the easy parts?
(ask it, then let them answer first. don’t rescue the quiet. this one is the heart of the lesson, give it room.)
First, the words
Sacrifice Back then, people worshipped God by offering an animal on an altar. It was their way of saying sorry and showing love. Saul tried to use a sacrifice to cover the fact that he had not actually obeyed.
now tell the story and fill the gaps
The story in plain words (say it, don’t read it)
- God gave Saul a clear command before a battle: destroy everything. No keeping the spoils.
- Saul won, but he kept the best animals and spared the enemy king. Then when the prophet showed up, Saul said he saved them all to sacrifice to God. He dressed up his disobedience to make it look holy.
- Samuel’s answer is one of the most famous lines in the Bible: “to obey is better than sacrifice.” God does not want your leftovers wrapped up as a gift.
- Saul did the easy ninety percent and made an excuse for the hard ten. That is not obeying. That is negotiating. Real obedience is doing the whole thing He asked, especially the hard part.
Have someone read
1 Samuel 15:22
And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
Here’s what that means: God would rather you actually do the hard thing He asked than do something flashy to make up for skipping it.
Turn to the Savior
Jesus obeyed all the way, even when it was the hardest thing anyone has ever done. In the garden He said, “not my will, but thine, be done.” He did the hard one hundred percent so that your imperfect obedience could be made whole through Him.
Ask: what is the one part I keep holding back from God?
If you have time (the floor)
- What is the difference between obeying and obeying only the parts you feel like?
- Have you ever “obeyed” in a way that was really just negotiating with your parents, or with God?
- Why is it so easy to use a good-sounding reason to cover a choice we already knew was wrong?
4
The Lord Looketh on the Heart
God chose David, the one nobody even thought to invite. What does that say about how God sees YOU?
(ask it, then let them answer first. don’t rescue the quiet. this is the moment the whole lesson has been building to.)
First, the words
Anoint To pour a little oil on someone’s head as a sign that God has chosen them for something special. Samuel anointed David to show God had picked him to be the next king.
now tell the story and fill the gaps
The story in plain words (say it, don’t read it)
- God sent Samuel to a man named Jesse to pick the next king from his sons. Samuel saw the oldest son, tall and impressive, and thought, this has to be the one.
- God stopped him: people look at the outside, but the Lord looks at the heart. One by one, seven strong, impressive sons walked by. God said no to all of them.
- Samuel asked, are these all your sons? There was one more. The youngest, David, was out in the field with the sheep. He was so overlooked that nobody even called him in for the meeting.
- They sent for David, and God said: this is the one. The future king, the boy everyone else forgot, was chosen because of the heart only God could see.
Have someone read
1 Samuel 16:7
But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
Here’s what that means: the mirror and the feed can only show your outside. God sees the real you, the part nobody else can see, and that is the part He measures.
Turn to the Savior
The same God who saw David’s heart sees yours right now. He sent His Son for exactly the people the world overlooks. Christ looks past your worst day, past the version of you the crowd ranks, and sees who you really are and who you can become.
Ask: if God sees my heart and still chooses me, how should that change the way I see myself, and the girls around me?
If you have time (the floor)
- David’s own family left him out in the field. Have you ever felt overlooked or left out? How does it help to know God never overlooks a single heart?
- Who in your life does the world overlook that God might be choosing?
- What would actually change in you if you really believed God sees your heart, not your surface?
Land it, then close
What to land: One nation wanted a king it could see, so it could be like everyone else. One king looked perfect and slowly traded away the heart God gave him. And one overlooked shepherd boy was chosen by God because of a heart no one else could see. The whole week comes down to one truth: the Lord looks on the heart. The world will spend your whole life trying to tell you your worth is on the outside. God already told you it is on the inside, where He has been looking all along.
This week’s invitation: Pick one place where you have been letting the mirror, the feed, or the crowd decide what you are worth. Take it to the Lord in prayer this week and ask Him to show you how He sees you there. Then choose to believe what He sees over what the world shows you.
Next week: 1 Samuel 17-18; 24-26; 2 Samuel 5-7. “The Battle Is the Lord’s.” The overlooked shepherd boy faces a giant nobody else will fight.
Close with prayer, or invite one of the young women to close.