Matthew 18, 8:19-22 | Mark 9:33-50 | Luke 9:46-62 | John 7:2-10

In many ways and times Jesus impressed upon His disciples the importance of being servants, and not striving to be great in the kingdom of God.  This is a lesson that they would not really learn until the night that Jesus would be arrested, when He would humble Himself to wash their dirty feet.

Jesus also taught them many times about forgiveness, and emphasizes this in Matthew 18, with the story of the two servants, and how God will likewise treat us in the same way we treat others.  If we refuse to have mercy, and to forgive, then Jesus says that God will likewise refuse to have mercy and forgive us.  Jesus told Peter that we should be willing to forgive the same offense hundreds of times without growing weary.

He also taught on the correct way to resolve conflict between individuals, where they should first try to clear things up one-on-one.  If that doesn’t work, then they should enlist the help of a disinterested third party as an arbiter.  Then, if that doesn’t work, the issue can be brought before the larger body of believers in the church, who will make a judgement between them.  If the guilty party then refuses to listen, they should be treated as a stranger.  Many people want to short circuit this process, and go straight to corporate discipline, but that is not how Jesus ordained it to happen.

Jesus also taught on the importance of living holy in this life, and said that we should take drastic steps to separate ourselves from whatever causes us to stumble.  We should not interpret this literally, in cutting off body parts, or gouging out an eye, but see these as examples of how serious and drastic we need to cut off what causes us to sin.