Help for the Hurting Heart

Please take a moment to let me share with you my intent and purpose for writing this book. I believe understanding my heart up front will greatly influence the way you read and benefit from this work about forgiveness.

The purpose of Help for the Hurting Heart is to motivate and guide you to understand and overcome the negative effects of hurtful relationships. I have worked to be simple and maintain biblical accuracy while removing the mask of religion.

The content of these pages is primarily a practical work. This book has been modified in other forms for use in small groups and as lectures for larger group presentations.

The first motive is to help that person who is holding onto resentments and is currently unable to enjoy the benefits of forgiveness because he or she doesn’t understand the meaning of forgiveness. It is my prayer that this work be clear and practical for any hurting person to fully understand the journey of forgiveness.

It is critical to know whether or not you have received God’s forgiveness for your own sinfulness. Although this is not a book focused on salvation, unless you have experienced God’s forgiveness through the Messiah, Jesus Christ, you will not be able to truly forgive others.

The aim of this book is that of resolving and healing personal relationship issues. Help for the Hurting Heart will take you to the place of learning to recognize, repair, and rebuild personal relationships that have been damaged throughout your lifetime. Learning how to express forgiveness to others is essential for the sake of your relationship with Jesus Christ, for your spiritual and emotional well-being, and for the enjoyment of your relationships with other people.

This book is intended to provide a clear definition of biblical forgiveness. Forgiveness is commonly discussed as though everyone already knows what it means and as if the reader is unwilling to forgive. People do experience a natural resistance to offering and receiving forgiveness. I attempt to give you practical understanding and principles to help you overcome resistance and choose to forgive by faith even when you don’t feel like forgiving. My intention is to clearly present forgiveness side by side with all of the issues that are usually confused with true forgiveness. Some of these issues include forgetting, reconciling, restitution, and restoration of a relationship.

You might choose to read this book one chapter at a time, taking patient and persistent action as you go. You might decide to read through the book completely first and then prayerfully follow God’s prompting to act on its principles. I do not encourage skipping around. The journey is built on a progressive foundation. Missing critical elements in the foundation can lead to serious difficulties that hinder and complicate the easiest route of this journey, causing additional misery. You may benefit by reading it a second time. Work through the exercises, journal your thoughts and feelings, and write down the statements that pop off the page and speak to you personally. There is no rush, but there is a sense of urgency because your well-being is important. Choose whatever method works for you. Move at God’s pace for your life.

Finally, this book is presented in a format meant to guide and support you as you grow throughout the experience of forgiveness. The signs of progress are clearly identifiable along the journey. You will read about the experiences of others, and I hope these experiences will help you in many ways along your own journey.

Just as your progress will be easy to see, I hope it will also be easy to see if you are living a life full of unforgiveness. I will give you clear indicators for determining if the spirit of unforgiveness is a reality in your life. I will also give you insight on how to know if your life displays evidence of the abundant life that Christ’s death and forgiveness provide for you.

I express my sincerest appreciation to you for taking time to read Help for the Hurting Heart. I trust that God will richly bless this book so that it is a genuine help and enduring blessing to you.

Gratefully,

Steve Silverstein

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).