Forgiving Ourselves

R. T. Kendall's TOTAL FORGIVENESS touched a raw nerve amongst Christian readers and rapidly became this prolific writer's fastest- and bestselling book. It still sells 5000 copies a year, five years after original publication. But it only told half the story - how to forgive others. The teaching is completed with R. T.'s brilliant account of how it is equally important that we forgive ourselves. TOTALLY FORGIVING OURSELVES is classic R. T. Kendall - honest, sympathetic, biblical teaching on an aspect of the Christian life common to us all. Everyone has something in their past for which they need to forgive themselves as well as other people. Unless we do so, we are not only damaging ourselves but restricting our usefulness in God's service.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Chair of The Elders, and Chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, along with his daughter, the Reverend Mpho Tutu, offer a manual on the art of forgiveness—helping us to realize that we are all capable of healing and transformation. Tutu's role as the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission taught him much about forgiveness. If you asked anyone what they thought was going to happen to South Africa after apartheid, almost universally it was predicted that the country would be devastated by a comprehensive bloodbath. Yet, instead of revenge and retribution, this new nation chose to tread the difficult path of confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Each of us has a deep need to forgive and to be forgiven. After much reflection on the process of forgiveness, Tutu has seen that there are four important steps to healing: Admitting the wrong and acknowledging the harm; Telling one's story and witnessing the anguish; Asking for forgiveness and granting forgiveness; and renewing or releasing the relationship. Forgiveness is hard work. Sometimes it even feels like an impossible task. But it is only through walking this fourfold path that Tutu says we can free ourselves of the endless and unyielding cycle of pain and retribution. The Book of Forgiving is both a touchstone and a tool, offering Tutu's wise advice and showing the way to experience forgiveness. Ultimately, forgiving is the only means we have to heal ourselves and our aching world.

DIV After the release of Total Forgiveness, the most common question that readers had for author R. T. Kendall was, "How do I forgive myself?" In this follow-up book, Kendall dives deep into the subject to give read/div

Filled with stories, examples, and encouragement, the book dispels some common myths about self-forgivenessThe co-authors pave the way for the reality that self-forgiveness is an act of love toward yourself, and they show how you can rid yourself of destructive and unwarranted anger and guilt in order to restore your sense of self-worth as a child of God.

Guilt and self-blame can be incapacitating feelings that only deliberates self-forgiveness will dispel. Forgiving Yourself identifies various types of actions that call for forgiveness, and offers a step-by-step program for eliminating self-defeating behavior so what we may learn to forgive our mistakes, heal our relationships, and get on with becoming our best selves.

SUB TITLE:Getting Back Up When We Let Ourselves Down

A fascinating book about our struggle to forgive—and how we can—from a renowned psychologist and award-winning author. Why do we harden our hearts, even against those we want to love? Why do we find it so hard to admit being wrong? Why are the worst grudges the ones we hold against ourselves? When we nurse our resentments, Robert Karen says, we are acting from an insecure aspect of the self that harbors unresolved pain from childhood. But we also have a forgiving self which is not compliant or fake, but rather the strongest, most loving part of who we are. Through it, we are able to voice anger without doing damage, to acknowledge our own part in what has gone wrong, to see the flaws in ourselves and others as part of our humanity. Using movies, people in the news, and sessions from his practice, Karan illuminate how we can move beyond our feelings of being wronged without betraying our legitimate anger and need for repair. The forgiving self, when we are able to locate it, brings relief from compulsive self-hatred and bitterness, and allows for a re-emergence of love.

When we live with unresolved anger or hurt, the result is nearly always bitterness, broken relationships, and unhealthy behaviors. Unforgiveness not only sabotages our interactions with those around us, it impedes our own spiritual growth and inner peace. And it can happen to anyone. In her most vulnerable writing yet, Ruth Graham reveals how a visit to Angola Prison inspired her to release the unforgiveness lurking in her own heart--toward others, herself, and even her heavenly Father and her earthly father, evangelist Billy Graham. In this encouraging book, she weaves her own personal experiences with biblical examples to explore what holds us back from forgiving others and ourselves--and what we gain when we finally discover the power to forgive. Along the way, she guides us into our own deeply personal experiences of forgiveness that will penetrate our protective walls and unleash true transformation in our lives.