Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers: Finding Freedom from Hurt and Hate

by Leslie Leyland Fields, Jill Hubbard

Overview

“If our families are to flourish, we will need to learn and practice ways of forgiving those who have had the greatest impact upon us: our mothers and fathers.”

Do you struggle with the deep pain of a broken relationship with a parent?

Leslie Leyland Fields and Dr. Jill Hubbard invite you to walk with them as they explore the following questions:

• What does the Bible say about forgiveness? Why must we forgive at all?
• How do we honor those who act dishonorably toward us, especially when those people are as influential as our parents? Can we ever break free from the “sins of our fathers”?
• What does forgiveness look like in the lives of real parents and children? Does forgiveness mean I have to let an estranged parent back into my life? Is it possible to forgive a parent who has passed away?

Through the authors’ own compelling personal stories combined with a fresh look at the Scriptures, Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers illustrates and instructs in the practice of authentic forgiveness, leading you away from hate and hurt toward healing, hope, and freedom.

"A call to very hard, but very vital, work of the soul."

—Dr. Henry Cloud, leadership expert, psychologist, and best-selling author

"Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers is essential reading for anyone who wants to deal with those hurts in a constructive, healing, and God-honoring manner."

—Jim Daly, president, Focus on the Family

"Leslie Leyland Fields and Jill Hubbard take us into raw, messy stories so we can be transformed by that mysterious and painful grace in the force called forgiveness."

—Scot McKnight, Northern Seminary

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780849964725
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	01/28/2014
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	683,128
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Dr. Jill Hubbard is a clinical psychologist and regular co-host on Christian radio's nationally-syndicated New Life Live program. Dr. Jill has gained a reputation for her gentle and insightful style of connecting with radio callers. She is also in private practice where she sees clients who struggle with depression, addictions, eating disorders, and relational and personal growth issues. Dr. Jill lives with her family in southern California.

Table of Contents

Introduction xiii

1 Becoming Jonah: Running from Our Stories 1

2 Daring to Confess: The Sins of the Fathers 19

3 Becoming Human: The Debt We Share 40

4 The Unforgiven and the Unforgiving 64

5 The Heart of Forgiveness 82

6 The Prodigal Father and Mother: Honoring the Dishonorable 109

7 Lord, Have Mercy: In the Last Hours 134

8 After Lament: Reclaiming the Past 158

9 Becoming Joseph: Into the Land of Freedom 178

Acknowledgments 203

Notes 205

About the Authors 213

Editorial Reviews

12/09/2013
Drawing from their own difficult stories, writer Fields (Surprise Child) and clinical psychologist Hubbard exhibit grace and genuine empathy in taking on a topic that often takes a lifetime to work through. Fields talks about the power of confessing the wrongs children suffer from their parents and urges readers to consider the story of the Good Samaritan; not only are they victims, but also Samaritans, who can use their own pain as a source of empathy. With that perspective comes the realization that, “Most of all, revenge is an attempt to ease our pain…” Freedom instead comes through letting go of expectation, using healthy boundaries, and returning the power of judgment to God. In the process, those who have been hurt become people of honor, capable of honoring parents and also changing the family story. The authors’ gracious approach does not minimize the pain adults feel about their relationships with parents who have hurt them. Neither does it offer platitudes. Instead, the Fields and Hubbard outline concrete steps to do the necessary work of forgiveness in order to move forward into a life of freedom. An excellent resource for the journey. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

11/15/2013
Fields (contributing editor, Christianity Today) and Hubbard (cohost, New Life Live on Christian radio), a clinical psychologist, have broken a kind of barrier in Christian writing. The standard in spiritual memoir or sermon has long been to return to established relationships with renewed patience and vigor; the authors write frankly of disastrous failure in parent-child relationships and the importance to the victim as well as to the wrongdoer, not of forgetting but of forgiving. VERDICT This candid volume should prove painful but necessary reading for individuals, church groups, and pastors.

Library Journal

"A call to very hard, but very vital, work of the soul."
—Dr. Henry Cloud, leadership expert, psychologist, and best-selling author

"Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers is essential reading for anyone who wants to deal with those hurts in a constructive, healing, and God-honoring manner."
—Jim Daly, president, Focus on the Family

"Leslie Leyland Fields and Jill Hubbard take us into raw, messy stories so we can be transformed by that mysterious and painful grace in the force called forgiveness."
—Scot McKnight, Northern Seminary

From the Publisher