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Effortless Forgiveness
"The fruit of the Spirit is not a "to-do" list that we attempt to accomplish. Rather, the fruit is an effortless outcome of knowing God's truth with the heart. We cannot produce His fruit and neither can we produce compassion and forgiveness unless the Spirit brings it about. Like the fruit, forgiveness is the effortless outcome of knowing truth in our hearts with absolute certainty. Only the Spirit can persuade us of the truth in this manner. By reading "Effortless Forgiveness" you will discover how to cooperate with the Spirit as He refines your faith/belief by persuading you of His truth, and thereby, releasing you to forgive effortlessly from your heart."
from the back cover.
from the back cover.
203 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 25, 2022
Effortless Forgiveness, by Ed Smith and Joshua Smith, offers a fascinating perspective on forgiveness. I’m still not quite sure what to think of it. I am definitely intrigued by the Transformation Prayer Model, which is the basis of Smith’s teachings on forgiveness. I didn’t agree with several of the author’s takes on topics such as bitterness and anger, but I believe there is a lot of merit to what is presented about forgiveness, as well as the concept of inviting Jesus to speak into your memories.
I do feel that this book gets much closer to what forgiveness is and isn’t than any other teaching I’ve read or heard on it. For example, he teaches that forgiveness isn’t something we can just decide to do out of obedience or wanting to do the right thing; rather it is a natural outpouring of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, what we believe, and how we view the one who has harmed us.
The explanation of what forgiveness is, biblically, was especially interesting. Particularly mind-blowing was the concept that forgiveness literally means “to cut off or remove”.
The use of the expression “lie-based beliefs” was somewhat off-putting and very repetitive. This expression at times leaned towards victim-blaming, although I don’t think that was the intention. The author seemed to be trauma-informed and compassionate.
This book was very repetitive, had some typos, was a little hard to follow, and I ended up still a bit unclear on what the “truth” is that I’m supposed to believe about the offender in order to forgive versus “the lie-based beliefs.” There was a lot of attention given to lie-based beliefs and very little time given to the solution. I think I would actually prefer this content as a video course or study than as a book, just because it was hard to grasp the concept in written form.
Regardless of the need for some good editing, I would still recommend Effortless Forgiveness as a revolutionary take on a crucial topic that is so often misunderstood and misused. And I am looking forward to reading more about Transformation Prayer ministry in Smith’s other books.
I do feel that this book gets much closer to what forgiveness is and isn’t than any other teaching I’ve read or heard on it. For example, he teaches that forgiveness isn’t something we can just decide to do out of obedience or wanting to do the right thing; rather it is a natural outpouring of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, what we believe, and how we view the one who has harmed us.
The explanation of what forgiveness is, biblically, was especially interesting. Particularly mind-blowing was the concept that forgiveness literally means “to cut off or remove”.
The use of the expression “lie-based beliefs” was somewhat off-putting and very repetitive. This expression at times leaned towards victim-blaming, although I don’t think that was the intention. The author seemed to be trauma-informed and compassionate.
This book was very repetitive, had some typos, was a little hard to follow, and I ended up still a bit unclear on what the “truth” is that I’m supposed to believe about the offender in order to forgive versus “the lie-based beliefs.” There was a lot of attention given to lie-based beliefs and very little time given to the solution. I think I would actually prefer this content as a video course or study than as a book, just because it was hard to grasp the concept in written form.
Regardless of the need for some good editing, I would still recommend Effortless Forgiveness as a revolutionary take on a crucial topic that is so often misunderstood and misused. And I am looking forward to reading more about Transformation Prayer ministry in Smith’s other books.
January 24, 2020
Bit repetitive (might be intentional), but helpful book on transformational prayer ministry in the context of forgiveness.
October 8, 2024
I took Theophostic Prayer Training years ago. It helped me immensely, but I've been surprised over the years at how few people who are trained in TPM actually understand it. It's received so much criticism online. I think people just don't understand how God works at replacing lies with truth.
I'm glad I found this book and that it explains the updated version of the now Transformation Prayer Ministry. I still recognized the basic ideas that pain or loss may cause a person to believe a lie that keeps them in a state of anger, hurt and unforgivness. Until we are ready to seek God's healing and truth, and reach a point of compassion for the other person, forgiveness will be difficult and elusive.
I think this book makes good points, but it was hard for me to read. It's repetitive and a bit confusing. The example of a person owing money and repaying debt is clear. But most of my hurts came from unmet expectations or rudeness or judgments. I lost trust or reputation or relationship. That's hard to restore. Even if I forgive the actions, the loss remains. So how is that like owing money? Jesus died in our place to pay for our sins. What could anyone do to repay the pain they caused me? The analogies just didn't help me understand the debt someone who hurts me owes me.
The explanation of anger as a way that Satan deceives us into not forgiving helped me. Holding onto pain and anger for the 3 reasons suggested is something I've done. Moving towards God for healing and reaching a point of compassion also is something that I understand. I think Dr. Smith is correct that lies are at the bottom of unforgivness. God has healed me of past hurts by helping me see another interpretation of the situation.
Overall, a good book but I think it needs editing to streamline the explanations and avoid letting the repetitive words and many words cloud the point. Page 195 states it clearly. Forgiveness is elusive until we see the situation from God's perspective. With His truth and compassion, we can forgive as He did from the cross.
I'm glad I found this book and that it explains the updated version of the now Transformation Prayer Ministry. I still recognized the basic ideas that pain or loss may cause a person to believe a lie that keeps them in a state of anger, hurt and unforgivness. Until we are ready to seek God's healing and truth, and reach a point of compassion for the other person, forgiveness will be difficult and elusive.
I think this book makes good points, but it was hard for me to read. It's repetitive and a bit confusing. The example of a person owing money and repaying debt is clear. But most of my hurts came from unmet expectations or rudeness or judgments. I lost trust or reputation or relationship. That's hard to restore. Even if I forgive the actions, the loss remains. So how is that like owing money? Jesus died in our place to pay for our sins. What could anyone do to repay the pain they caused me? The analogies just didn't help me understand the debt someone who hurts me owes me.
The explanation of anger as a way that Satan deceives us into not forgiving helped me. Holding onto pain and anger for the 3 reasons suggested is something I've done. Moving towards God for healing and reaching a point of compassion also is something that I understand. I think Dr. Smith is correct that lies are at the bottom of unforgivness. God has healed me of past hurts by helping me see another interpretation of the situation.
Overall, a good book but I think it needs editing to streamline the explanations and avoid letting the repetitive words and many words cloud the point. Page 195 states it clearly. Forgiveness is elusive until we see the situation from God's perspective. With His truth and compassion, we can forgive as He did from the cross.
February 17, 2020
This book was an interesting mix of human behavioral phsycology and the author's theology which was difficult to pin down.
The author repeats himself quite a bit in the early chaptersas he really tries to drive home his point. It threw me off a bit at first, but I understood why he was doing it and he calms that down a bit as the book progresses so keep going.
Overall I found it interesting and agreed with quite a bit. Personally I think the last 1/3 to 1/4 of the book got a bit wobbly.
I think the author's interpretations were suspicious and I would need to ask some clarifying questions. Since I couldn't do that, I applied a little salt and finished it out.
All in all I think the author provides a good framework to deliver some great points on forgiveness, and it was useful as a discussion book on the topic overall.
My critique of the book itself is that they need to go over it again for proof reading. There were quite a few typos in my edition and probably some rough spots that could be smoothed over.
The author repeats himself quite a bit in the early chaptersas he really tries to drive home his point. It threw me off a bit at first, but I understood why he was doing it and he calms that down a bit as the book progresses so keep going.
Overall I found it interesting and agreed with quite a bit. Personally I think the last 1/3 to 1/4 of the book got a bit wobbly.
I think the author's interpretations were suspicious and I would need to ask some clarifying questions. Since I couldn't do that, I applied a little salt and finished it out.
All in all I think the author provides a good framework to deliver some great points on forgiveness, and it was useful as a discussion book on the topic overall.
My critique of the book itself is that they need to go over it again for proof reading. There were quite a few typos in my edition and probably some rough spots that could be smoothed over.
January 5, 2020
A book to read again and again when struggling with holding on to lies about the past and struggling to forgive others.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews