When being interviewed about how she handled her teen son’s accidental death, Kelly Preston said she often felt like she was drowning–”like a sea of wet blankets. And I just peeled them off, layer by layer … I want to live. I love life.”

Unhappiness, anger, and bitterness form in heavy layers. They, too, must be addressed one at a time–acknowledging, rejecting, and destroying the damaging emotions that control our thoughts, words, and behavior. How do we begin?

Psalm 139:23-24 says: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

We must pray that God will show us the outermost layer of grief in our hearts. Ask Him to reveal the lies that Satan is feeding us. Offer forgiveness for others. Repent, seek and receive forgiveness for ourselves. Refuse to walk in self-condemnation once God has forgiven us.

Welcome!

As I start my second novel, I’d like to invite you to join me in a Biblical study on forgiveness. The characters in this story will be struggling with the task of forgiveness–for others and for themselves. As I plan the events of their lives, I’m seeking God’s Word on where He wants to take them. How He wants to speak into their lives.

Forgiveness can be a very difficult step of obedience, no matter how long we’ve been Christians. Sometimes we forgive, only to find moments later that we still harbor bitterness and resentment.

So how do we forgive when we can’t forget? Is forgiveness always a process, or should we be able to do it once and for all? What does the Bible have to say about forgiveness?

I have no detailed plan for the study–just going to read lots of Scripture on the topic and share what the Lord gives me.

Please press COMMENT below to express your interest in the study and to share questions you have about forgiveness.

Hope to hear from you soon!