The 5 Best Books on Forgiveness

Editor’s Choice

  • It informs you about the 27 powerful forgiveness techniques
  • With 11 overlooked aids in empowering yourself to forgive
  • Has many good editorial reviews

Best Overall

  • Offers lots of space for journaling and personal information entry
  • It has a daily forgiveness story
  • Comes with a free CD

Budget-Friendly

  • This book is available in Hardcover and Kindle version
  • This is the revised and updated version
  • It has testimonies of changed lives

If you are in a hurry and just want to find out the best books on forgiveness, then I’d recommend Forgiveness by Iyanla Vanzant as the best one.

God loves us the same even on days we don’t feel like loving Him back. Even on days, we don’t feel like obeying Him. Even on days, we seem to struggle to find it in our hearts to forgive imperfect people. But guess what? He expects us to give the same grace to the people who have hurt us. This article is about the Best Books on Forgiveness that will push you to forgive the unforgivable. 

Here are the Best Books on Forgiveness we will be reviewing:

What are Books on Forgiveness?

These are real-life guides on how to extend God’s grace to ourselves and to the people who have wronged us. Authors who are like you and I wrote these Books on Forgiveness. They, too, needed to forgive someone and had a hard time applying all the things they’ve read in the Bible. These books are the recipes for a path toward healing

Purpose of Reading Books on Forgiveness

The main purpose of this is to give practical tips on forgiving people. Books like these open your heart for correction but still validate your emotions. The best books on forgiveness aim to give you hope and support in times of difficulty in forgiving. 

Benefits of Reading Books on Forgiveness

Every book has its fair share of benefits, depending on the book author’s purpose of writing it. However, the books on forgiveness are all written with the sole purpose of making genuine forgiveness possible for an imperfect person like you. Here are some of the reasons why you should read one:

Helps you realize the blessings of forgiveness

Books on forgiveness will help you fully understand how God forgave you through His son, Jesus Christ. You will realize that life is so much more meaningful when there’s no room in your heart for anger, hatred, bitterness, grudge, and vengeance. When everything that flows from you is the overflowing love of God in your life. 

Helps you see the dangers of unforgiveness

Jesus Christ described the danger of unforgiveness in Matthew 18:23-35. He says that the result of unforgiveness is “torment”, which is the result of being delivered to the “torturers”. Torturers take away our peace, and they will come knocking on our hearts and minds all the time to bother us. This is the kind of danger that the books on forgiveness will teach you. These books will warn you about the kind of hatred that will be evident in your life when you don’t forgive.

Helps you build a more intimate relationship with God

Books on forgiveness will not only help you forgive but also will help you strengthen your faith. Life doesn’t just stop when you forgive others, but it will all the more help you love God who gave you the strength to forgive the unforgivable because. In the first place, you won’t be able to fully forgive someone without learning and choosing to love God more than yourself. 

Teaches you ways to forgive others

When Jesus Christ told Peter in Matthew 18:21-22 that we must forgive people seventy times seven, He did not mean to forgive seventy times seven only. He did not say that we must count our forgiveness and keep records of wrongs. Instead, He meant that we must forgive that much. Blessing others after we’ve forgiven them is much harder than just forgiving itself, so these books on forgiveness will help you extend more compassion to these people. 

Teaches you ways to forgive yourself

One reason why we are having a hard time forgiving people is that we still also blame ourselves for what they did. In the back of our heads, we think that maybe, it happened because we let it happen. A part of us tells that it was our fault too. But no, bad things happen, even to good people. Books on forgiveness will make you understand the reason why it has to happen, and why it is important to forgive yourself first before actually forgiving others. 

Importance of Reading Books on Forgiveness

The importance of reading books on forgiveness is to help us learn and understand things that we cannot understand ourselves just by reading the Bible. We can never fully comprehend God’s divine purpose without the help of experts who have experienced and felt the same way as you do. Yes, it is really hard to offer forgiveness, especially to those who have not earned it and those who did not bother apologizing. But reading the Best Books on Forgiveness will guide you to forgive the inexcusable and undeserving. 

Things to Consider in Choosing the Best Books on Forgiveness

Bible-based

First and foremost, the book should be rooted in God’s Word. Why? No one made the greatest act of forgiveness on Earth other than Jesus Christ himself. We need to forgive people today because someone forgave us first. If there’s anyone we should look up to in forgiving people, it must be Him who died on the cross that day to demonstrate the kind of love we should be willing to give other people.

Sense of originality

This book should be informative and practical. It should not be like any other book that tells you what you already know. It should not be about something you’ve already read in the Bible or heard from anyone. This book must feel like you’re breathing in the different fresh air.

Good editorial review 

A great book on forgiveness has positive comments from other authors. These comments are often seen on the front or back cover of the book. So take a look at it and see what others have to say about it.

Well-written

You will know that it is well-written if it catches the heart of its readers. If it has also won an award because of its effectiveness and wisdom, then you’ll know for sure it is a great book on forgiveness. 

Written by a great author

The book must be written by a known author who is famous for writing self-help books. A great author of a book on forgiveness must have a good reputation in emotional and spiritual development. 

Strong and captivating description 

The words written on the front and on the back cover must be catchy. It must captivate your heart because it holds every detail and information you would want to read in your book. 

Readable font size and type

The book itself must be readable. Its font size and style should be easy to read for all ages and for those who do not have 20/20 vision. No one wants to read a book about forgiveness that they can’t see the words written inside. 

Forgiveness by Iyanla Vanzant 

Books on Forgiveness

Iyanla Vanzant, an author who has five out of 15 titles that are New York Times bestsellers, beautifully wrote this book that will challenge you to embrace forgiveness while facing the wounds of your past. She has filled this book with a day-by-day breakdown of prayers, meditations, stories, and exercises that you could engage in to help you be released from the bondage of toxic thoughts and emotions caused by acts of unforgiveness. 

It is easy to dwell on the memories that caused you so much pain, but Iyanla Vanzant’s 21-Day Forgiveness Plan will help you navigate relationship dynamics with the ones you love, and even God. This book’s journaling work and Emotional Freedom Technique, or “Tapping”, will guide you to restore broken relationships in your life, and discover your personal freedom from resentment. Also, Forgiveness by Iyanla Vanzant will teach you to accept the events of your past without actually wishing to change everything that has happened.

Pros:

  • Offers lots of space for journaling and personal information entry
  • It has a daily forgiveness story
  • Comes with a free CD
  • This book is available in Kindle and Paperback version

Cons:

  • It is a workbook, so there are a lot of exercises to perform which might not fit your liking
  • It may be more about Tapping than Forgiveness
  • The free CD is not the audio reading of the book, rather it is a series of meditations that you can listen to as part of the program of the book

Radical Forgiveness by Colin Tipping

Books on Forgiveness

As a Christian who believes in a Higher Power, one of the hardest pills to swallow is that nothing ever happens wrong because everything happens for a good reason, and everything will work out in the end. The hardships we experience are all part of a divine purpose that will help us become better persons. Colin Tipping is a firm believer that we will only be able to experience transformative forgiveness when we choose to experience the liberating power of Radical Forgiveness. 

The book, Radical Forgiveness, features more than a dozen tools that can help you find peace in difficult and painful situations from your past and present. Colin Tipping also challenges you to forgive not only others but also yourself so you can better understand the importance of forgiveness. That is why this book is a Writer’s Digest Award Winner.

Pros:

  • Available in an audiobook that is easy to listen to and follow
  • It is the perfect life-changing gift to give someone
  • With step-by-step instructions, practices, and, clear insights into beginning your healing process

Cons:

  • This book is not entirely written from a psychological standpoint
  • It may be better suited for everyday relationship issues, but not issues that involve abuse

How to Forgive When You Can’t by Jim Dincalci

Books on Forgiveness

Dr. Jim Dincalci, a Child & Family Therapist, university instructor, and founder of the Forgiveness Foundation International, features essential and effective methods to release pain and hurts while escaping cycles of guilt and self-pity through distinct strategies and life-changing stories. He points out in this book that the person you are hurting most by your bitterness and toxic thoughts is yourself. 

How to Forgive When You Can’t is a book that will help you be aware of the emotional defenses that prevent you from calming your brain mechanisms that cause unforgiveness. It will also inform you about the eight essentials and seven secrets for dealing with upsets. Lastly, did you know that this book is a recipient of 4 national awards? This proves to be a good informational book that will help you forgive the unforgivable.

Pros:

  • It informs you about the 27 powerful forgiveness techniques
  • With 11 overlooked aids in empowering yourself to forgive
  • Has many good editorial reviews

Cons:

  • This book has a lot of information so there is a lot to take in

Total Forgiveness by R.T. Kendall

Books on Forgiveness

The author of this book, R.T. Kendall, challenges our inner belief in total genuine forgiveness. He inspires his readers to dig deeper and look within the hidden bitterness where subtle resentment lies and little acts of unforgiveness remain. Kendall believes that sometimes our standard of forgiveness is different from what God has designed it to be. 

Total Forgiveness is a book that will shed light on the fact that we might still hold resentment for the people who have wronged us even if we think we have already forgiven them. It might be the most instructive and impactful book you can ever read. Not only these, but this book will help you heal and recover completely because it will also encourage you to pray for those who have hurt you. 

Pros:

  • Available in Hardcover and Kindle version
  • This is the revised and updated version 
  • It has testimonies of changed lives

Cons:

  • There are a lot of Bible references that might not be for you if you are not too spiritual
  • You may not always agree with the author’s point of view regarding some things he mentioned

Forgive and Forget by Lewis Smedes

Books on Forgiveness

Forgive and Forget is a book that seeks to help someone who has a deep-rooted hurt and wants to let it go so they can help themselves find peace and joy again. Also, this book gives you a different perspective on what true forgiveness is. It covers explanations of different everyday struggles that we experience and why carrying grudges can damage our personal lives and spiritual growth

Lewis Smedes, an award-winning author of fifteen books, amazingly wrote this classic book on forgiveness which has more than 400,000 copies sold. In this book, he breaks down the process of healing into four stages as he tells stories of different people who went through the same experience. If you are someone who is having a hard time finding room in your heart to forgive but longs to have peace that comes from forgiveness, then this book is definitely for you. 

Pros:

  • This is an updated Paperback PLUS edition
  • It has a reader’s guide and other bonus materials
  • If you are into Pop Psychology, this is for you

Cons:

  • You may not like the author’s style of writing if you are looking for Biblical resources

Conclusion

The greatest measurement of love is forgiveness, and to forgive people who hurt you is costly. It will cost you a tremendous act of sacrifice to extend compassion to those who have wronged you. It doesn’t happen overnight or after reading a book. Forgiveness is a process that revolves around love and nonstop grace daily. 

I would recommend the book entitled Forgiveness by Iyanla Vanzant. This book talks about one’s emotional triggers, judgments, and tapping process. It has a 21-day plan that has different daily prayers, a variety of tasks, and forgiveness stories that you could start your day with. After all, healing is a day-to-day process. 

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Alex Shute
EDITOR
Alex Shute, MBA
Alex is a family man and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles. His passion is to serve the global Church and bring people of diverse backgrounds together to learn & grow.


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