Making Sense of Forgiveness by Brad Hambrick demonstrates wise, pastoral care in helping counselees process the pain they have experienced from the wrongs of others and helping them move forward on the path of forgiveness. Gently recognizing the counselee’s pain, Hambrick explains where our counsel may exasperate it and offers us a wiser way to help. Making Sense of Forgiveness is first and foremost a practical tool as it gets down in the trenches with a counselee and answers the questions that we ask in our pain. The book is biblically wise but is not an exegetical work–meaning the author’s primary purpose is not to develop theological points from the text but to apply those points to our life.
The book is divided into six main sections:
Definitions and Misunderstandings Embrace God’s Forgiveness Wisely Extending Forgiveness Embracing Forgiveness from Others Moving toward What Is Commonly Called “Closure” Avoiding Ministry Mishaps
The author begins by clarifying what forgiveness is and is not. These distinctions have immediate and obvious practical ramifications. In the introduction, he says:
“The base metaphor we will use to define forgiveness is canceling a debt. Forgiveness means a loan of trust was given, which allowed us
To continue...read the full-length post originally published on this site.
