Unpacking Forgiveness by Chris Brauns: This book is for any counselee who struggles to forgive or seek repentance. This book is written to give an understanding of what biblical repentance and forgiveness are and are not. Topics include when to let love cover a multitude of sins and when to confront a sinner, how to respond to an unrepentant person who has sinned against you, dealing with bitter thoughts, and the dangers of unforgiveness, all while looking at scripture and the forgiveness the believer has received from through Christ. The bitter counselee will be shown the importance of offering forgiveness and and shown a path to joy. This is an excellent book on forgiveness and includes questions at the end of chapters.
Pursuing Peace by Robert Jones This book is for any counselee who struggles with relationships and conflicts within relationships. Hope is offered right away that God is the God of peace and provides peace within relationships. The next 3 chapters look at God's view of conflict and His desire for us to grow in humility and dependency on Him and how to please God in the midst of conflict. Robert Jones does an excellent of showing how heart idols ascend the throne of the heart using the same Paul Tripp example of a desire growing into a need, demand, expectation, etc. Once the sins are realized, the next few chapters deal with genuine repentance before God and others and how to seek forgiveness and extend forgiveness in relationships. The last few chapters deal with confrontation of habitual sin, serving others, and learning to love our enemies. This is a fantastic book for relationship issues. A study guide is available on the "study guide" page.
The Peacemaker by Ken Sande: This is a very in depth look at resolving conflicts in personal relationships and in business dealings or any other personal conflict. This is for a counselee who deals often with conflict in the home or workplace. The main topics covered are as the 4 Gs : Glorifying God, Getting the log out of your own eye, Gently Restoring, Go and be reconciled. Sande uses many techniques like this to help you remember the important points of each aspect. The 7 As of confession make seeking repentance understandable and a way to genuinely repent without excuse or blame shifting. There are study questions at the end of each chapter.
Steve Vjiars starts by identifying bitter circumstances and the ways that we are sinned against. As he works through the story of Naomi and Ruth, Viars guides the reader through the practical steps of renewing beliefs, thoughts, words, attitudes, and actions. Each chapter has a section called “pull over and park” where the reader is encouraged to apply the information to the bitterness of heart that has taken root. He teaches the reader to identify the bitter thoughts and words and leads through the process of putting off and putting on with helpful charts. This is a great book for any counselee who has struggled to forgive or accept the difficult circumstances of life.
"By helping us to experience God's grace, Hayley encourages and empowers us to give Christ's grace to others. Though this is a brief devotional, it is packed with theological truth applied to real life." --Bob Kellemen, Author, Gospel-Centered Marriage Counseling: An Equipping Guide for Pastors and Counselors
"Handles a difficult subject with grace and truth. I believe this devotional will really help those struggling with forgiveness, and I heartily endorse [it]!" --Julie Ganschow, Author, Seeing Depression through the Eyes of Grace; Director, Reigning Grace Counseling Center
"Hayley's devotional will help to deliver you from the rising tide of touchiness that is dragging even the church into bitterness. Let Jesus bless you through Hayley!" --Paul Miller, Executive Director, seeJesus; Author, A Praying Life
This small booklet leads the counselee through scripture. It is a workbook using all scripture verses to lead the counselee to a biblical understanding of how they have been forgiven by God and how they, through that grace, can and should forgive others. It is only available through Revive Our Hearts ministry.
This book by Wendell Miller is similar to Unpacking Forgiveness in breaking down the different types of forgiveness biblically. It is out of print and a little more difficult to find, but is a biblical presentation of forgiveness.