Forgiving What You Can't Forget - Review

Forgiving What You Can't Forget: Discover How to Move On, Make Peace with Painful Memories, and Create a Life That's Beautiful Again

By: Lysa TerKeurst

Publication: November 17th 2020 by Thomas Nelson

288 pages

Genre: Non-fiction, Self-Help, Christian

Source: eLibrary

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Goodreads description--*#1 New York Times Bestseller*

You deserve to stop suffering because of what other people have done to you.

Have you ever felt stuck in a cycle of unresolved pain, playing offenses over and over in your mind? You know you can't go on like this, but you don't know what to do next. Lysa TerKeurst has wrestled through this journey. But in surprising ways, she's discovered how to let go of bound-up resentment and overcome the resistance to forgiving people who aren't willing to make things right.

With deep empathy, therapeutic insight, and rich Bible teaching coming out of more than 1,000 hours of theological study, Lysa will help you:

Learn how to move on when the other person refuses to change and never says they're sorry.
Walk through a step-by-step process to free yourself from the hurt of your past and feel less offended today.
Discover what the Bible really says about forgiveness and the peace that comes from living it out right now.
Identify what's stealing trust and vulnerability from your relationships so you can believe there is still good ahead.
Disempower the triggers hijacking your emotions by embracing the two necessary parts of forgiveness.

I put Forgiving What You Can't Forget audiobook on hold with the elibrary MONTHS ago. And it finally came up time for me to borrow it. I haven't been in the best place to listen to audiobooks anymore as I'm not driving the long distances (THANK GOD!) that I was last year. But I knew this was a book I wanted to listen to ASAP. And I found a way. As a matter of fact, it is rare for me to be able to finish a non-fiction, self-help book this quickly. Usually, I need time to dissect and meditate on the information present, but I couldn't get enough of Forgiving What You Can't Forget.

Yes, I could spend some more time with the content of this book. I would love having a physical or digital copy of the text for re-reading and referencing. But this audiobook was phenomenal. Lysa Terkuerst's narration takes this audiobook to the next level. She knows where the emphasis should be in each sentence. And she also knows where and how much emotion each sentence should include. Being read by anyone else wouldn't have been as impactful.

I wish I could describe the content within this book and make any sense. Lysa's marriage struggles were very public due to the nature of her career. But I believe that God worked through their struggles in so many amazing ways. Obviously, that Lysa and Art were able to reconcile is proof of His work in their marriage. But with God's providence Lysa was able to take some of her deepest pain and with God's help turn it into this book that gives such practical help in forgiving others. He takes what is ugly and broken and dying and makes things that are beautiful, alive, and healed. And I believe that every human would benefit from reading or listening to this book. Lysa doesn't approach this topic from a standpoint of preaching but as a friend who commiserates with you over your own losses and brokenness. She knows just how hard forgiving someone who hurt you deeply is. And she doesn't gloss over the work and the challenges you will and have faced. That's what makes this book special.

Because this was the audio version that I listened to, I don't have any quotes to share, but I know if I'd read the print version I would have no lack of highlighted quotes.

Forgiving What You Can't Forget is a powerful book. Lysa approaches the reader as a friend who hurts over your hurts. She shares so many intimate details of her life, pain, and betrayal that you truly feel like you've just had a long coffee date with a now close pal. You've been through the trenches together. You've laughed, you've screamed, you've cried together. And you're coming out from the clouds to see the sun again. Listening to this book pushed me to finally let go of some hurt I experienced early on in my marriage that I've been carrying in the form of unforgiveness. And I am so thankful for the peace that I felt when I finally felt free enough to let go of the proof of my pain. Thank you Lysa, from the bottom of my heart, for bearing your soul and writing this book. Every human being has suffered a great loss in their life already, or they will before they die. They will be or have been let down by those who are supposed to love them the most. This book will help you. I know that it will. And I'm thankful God led Lysa to share her story and the work He has done in her life. Forgiving What You Can't Forget gets ALL THE STARS, but since my scale only goes up to 5, it gets 5 Stars. Have you read (or listened to) Forgiving What You Can't Forget? What did you think? Let me know!