Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
If there is a scripture passage which speaks most directly to the idea of different degrees of glory in heaven this is it. Some people in heaven will be considered lesser and some will be considered greater throughout all of eternity. There are some obstacles for some people to fully appreciate this mystery. One of them is the reality that heaven is pure gift, it cannot be earned but only graciously accepted for those who believe and obey Christ. But Jesus tells us the gift is greater for those who obey all the greater and teach others to do so. So the different degrees of heavenly bliss correspond to the different degrees of earthly obedience and teaching of others. (It is clearly not just teachers spoken of here but all who teach by their daily example). Another obstacle is that some people simply think this notion is unfair. Life on earth is so brief, heaven is eternal, how can something brief establish that which is eternal? Know, O Christian, that Christ's passion on earth seemed brief but because it was the Son of God engaging in perfect obedience to the Father it won for all who believe and obey an eternal, permanent redemption. Therefore we can speak in terms of scale; our greater or lesser obedience and example in this temporal realm binds us the more or less to Christ in the eternal realm. Furthermore, obedience and faith are not possible in heaven. Therefore in that kingdom faith will no longer be necessary for we shall see. Obedience will be a given. So if obedience and example earn degrees of glory, that can only be accomplished here on earth, where such things are not a given but require effort, will and faith. There is no time in heaven so there will be no more time left to merit greater glory, since the mechanism for doing so will have passed away into the former days.