Scripture: Matthew 18:15-35
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn God wants us to settle conflict quickly and in godly ways.
- Students will learn God wants us to forgive those who hurt us, as many times as necessary.
- Students will learn there is a process for handling conflict with those who have sinned against you and will not repent.
- Students will practicing subtracting various amounts of money as if they were paying back money they owed.
Guiding Question: Why does God want us to forgive and handle conflict in a godly way?
Materials: Paper, pencil
Procedure: Review the story of the Servants in Debt. Tell students that there are many times in our life when we may have a conflict with someone else and need to forgive them for hurting us. This could be with family, friends, or even people we may not know well. Have the students share a time they were in conflict and if they think they handled the situation well or could they have handled it in a more godly way. Explain that God wants us to reflect Him and His character in all we do and that includes when we are in a conflict with someone. We should love the other person the best we can during a disagreement and act calm so that we don’t do something we will regret later. Explain to students how to properly repent and ask forgiveness.
- Say “I’m sorry” (and really mean it)
- Tell the other person (and God) what you did that was wrong.
- Admit that it was your choice and therefore your fault.
- Tell the other person (and God) that you will really try to never do it again.
- Ask the other person if there is something you can do to fix it or make things better.
- Ask the other person (and God) to please forgive you.
Introduce the activity. Have the students practice subtraction with example amounts of debt. For example, I had a loan for $45,620. I paid off $23,125. How much of the loan do I have left to pay?. Adjust numbers as needed depending on age/skill level.
Additional Questions: How can students solve multi step subtraction problems?
Supplemental Activity: Have students solve subtraction word problems involving debt that have multiple steps. Example: I had a loan for $45,620. I paid off $23,125. Then I paid off $8,450. How much money do I have left to pay off?