Loan Forgiveness

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.

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.

  1. Say “I’m sorry” (and really mean it)
  2. Tell the other person (or God) what you did that was wrong.
  3. Admit that it was your choice and therefore your fault.
  4. Tell the other person (or God) that you will really try to never do it again.
  5. Ask the other person if there is something you can do to fix it or make things better.
  6. Ask the other person (or 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?
