“So what will happen with the poison that spoils God’s good gifts? God will either turn it into medicine or remove it completely. The gifts will remain – which are we ourselves and everything that surrounds us.”
– Miroslav Volf, Free of Charge, p. 32
“Be prepared to recommit to forgiveness every single day until you’re free.”
–Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word, p. 221
“Forgiveness is not defined by a feeling, although it will ultimately change our feelings. . . . Forgiveness is our determined and deliberate willingness to let something go. To release it from our possession. To be willing and ready for it to no longer occupy us. God is not asking us to let ‘it’ go haphazardly into the black hole of nonexistence. Forgiveness means letting it go to God. Letting it go from our power to His. Forgiveness is the ongoing act by which we agree with God over the matter, practice the mercy He’s extended to us, and surrender the situation, the repercussions, and the hurtful person to Him.”
— Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word
“If only we could understand that God’s unrelenting insistence on our forgiveness is for our own sakes, not the sake of the one who hurt us. God is faithful. He will plead our case and take up our cause . . . but only when we make a deliberate decision to cease representing ourselves in the matter.”
— Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word, p. 220
“God works against evil and suffering. But God, in immense divine power and inscrutable divine wisdom, also works through evil and suffering.”
–Miroslav Volf, Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace, p. 30
“No matter how different the rest of our challenges may be, every believer can count on a multitude of challenges to forgive. Remember, God’s primary agenda in the life of a believer is to conform the child into the likeness of his Son, Jesus Christ. No other word sums up His character in relationship to us like the word forgiving. We never look more like Christ than when we forgive; since that’s God’s goal, we’re destined for plenty of opportunities!”
–Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word, p. 219
“Regardless of whether we feel strong or weak, we remember that our assurance is not based upon our ability to conjure up some special feeling. Rather, it is built upon a confident assurance in the faithfulness of God. We focus on his trustworthiness and especially on his steadfast love.”
–Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 212
“Second, we ask. This is the step of faith. As we come to clearness about what is needed, we invite God’s healing to come. We speak a definite, straightforward declaration of what is to be. We do not weaken our request with ifs, ands, or buts.”
–Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 211
Affirmation of core value from Steven Stosny’s The Powerful Self:
I am worthy of respect, value, and compassion, whether or not I get them from others. If I don’t get them from others, it is necessary to feel more worthy, not less. It is necessary to affirm my own deep value as a unique person, a child of God. I respect and value myself. I have compassion for my hurt. I have compassion for the hurt of others. I trust myself to act in my best interests and in the best interests of loved ones.”
“There is a great deal of ‘how to’ literature about keeping love alive that can be distilled into two words: persistent effort. When we are held back, pushed aside, ignored, hurt, rejected, we must be like the heart that keeps beating even in the damaged body; we must persist. If we are not prepared to be resilient in love, we need to be prepared for a short relationship!
“Nearly everyone is guilty of having thrown up their hands in despair over some seemingly loveless act or unsolvable problem in relating. Every attempt at rectifying the situation seemed to push us into another dizzying failure until we finally lost the motivation, if not the reason, to try once more.
“Since we cannot live without love, we must rise up and try again. It helps if we keep in mind that there are few obstacles that can resist perseverance, determination, patience, and most of all, more love.”
–Leo Buscaglia, Born for Love, p. 33