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Loved: Stories of Forgiveness
Young men and women who have fallen away and then rediscovered the love of Christ speak of God's forgiveness and healing abilities in these stories of modern-day prodigals. Some follow a path much like Jesus' parable, turning their backs on family and faith in exchange for money and power. Some slip into a more subtle slide away from faith, allowing doubt or apathy to pull them away from who they are. Some make huge mistakes and are forced to pay painful penalties.
Yet each story has the positive ending of a life saved by Jesus Christ. Each story offers hope of renewal and restoration. Written for all those who fear that God can't or won't forgive them for what they did, LOVED is a book of hope.
Yet each story has the positive ending of a life saved by Jesus Christ. Each story offers hope of renewal and restoration. Written for all those who fear that God can't or won't forgive them for what they did, LOVED is a book of hope.
256 pages, Paperback
First published August 25, 2009
6 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca St. James
55 books128 followersRebecca St. James, an Australian-born Christian recording artist, is both a Grammy Award winner and a multiple Dove Award recipient. She is also the bestselling author of Wait for Me, SHE Teen, and What is He Thinking. In addition, St. James has appeared in the film Sarah's Choice and lent her voice to VeggieTales' An Easter Story. www.rsjames.com
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 8, 2022
Encouraging prodigal type stories :)
September 30, 2019
I have been a long time fan of Christian Artist and writer Rebecca St. James, and decided to re-read this devotional last month after a few personal events in my life. Sometimes I would read 1 or 2 pages a day when reading certain devotionals, but decided to read this one day at a time to see if it was any different. The stories are about real women's life stories about moving away from God and finding their way back. There are a few Bible verse in certain passages, but mostly the stories about the women and their lives. You do not need to be a female to read some powerful, and inspiring tales of forgiveness.
October 29, 2017
I thought these stories were good but unfortunately simplistic and repetitive. the first section read like the formulaic chicken soup books I read in youth group. Maybe some stories about adults instead of teenagers would have helped.
June 24, 2010
In this book, Rebecca St. James has compiled 48 stories of women who resemble the prodigal son in the Bible story and their journeys from temptation to sin and back to God. I had high hopes for this book, thinking it would be inspirational, but I found myself disappointed.
I thought the structure of the book was planned out very well with different sections each beginning with the story of a Biblical prodigal woman followed by 7 stories of women who went through similar problems. To my disappointment, I found many of the stories to be repetitive with many of the women committing the same sins: drug abuse, alcohol abuse, sexual promiscuity, and other forms of self destruction such as anorexia or cutting themselves. In many of the stories, these are sins against God and self alone really, not against others. There were no cases of women who stole, murdered, raped, manipulated others etc. So overall, it was revealing instances of women who came to love themselves again. I suppose this repetitive feeling could have been avoided if it were read as a daily devotional type of book instead of simply reading one after another. However, the the style of writing and the short length of the chapters made it a quick read.
There are, of course, theological issues to be considered as well. I found difficulty in understanding the rationalizations some of the women had for God's role in their suffering or lack thereof. In some stories God was with the women being raped or hurt, and in others the women found themselves 'protected' or 'blessed' by God that they were not raped, stolen, or murdered. So why did God allow some to be raped and supposedly protected others?
On the positive side, everyone will be able to see a part of themselves in at least one of these women and in that sense makes you feel not so alone in whatever you have faced or may be facing. It reinforces the importance of having good, helpful, and caring people in your world who care about you. It also inspires you to be one of these very people who will accept anyone where they are and not judge others. I guess it goes back to the saying 'Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself.' We all have our issues and should be more understanding of the shortcomings of others.
There was one story whose character I found to be the most sincere in here repentance and change: Sarah from Part 5 concerning 'Man Trouble'. She had started an affair with a pastor who was already married but later repented and actually went to the pastor's wife and others whom she had hurt and confessed and apologized to them. This I feel is someone who truly showed her repentance and who deserves to be forgiven. In another book I have read recently, The Noticer by Andy Andrews, there was a passage along the lines of 'An apology is acceptable if you make a mistake, but something more must be done if you have made a choice. In this case you need to rebuild your trust by demonstrating by your actions that you have changed." Sarah seems to have done this more than some of the other women in this book.
As a final word, I think this book gives the reader a lot to think about, but was not very wide in its scope nor entirely convincing in its 'evidence' of God's love.
I thought the structure of the book was planned out very well with different sections each beginning with the story of a Biblical prodigal woman followed by 7 stories of women who went through similar problems. To my disappointment, I found many of the stories to be repetitive with many of the women committing the same sins: drug abuse, alcohol abuse, sexual promiscuity, and other forms of self destruction such as anorexia or cutting themselves. In many of the stories, these are sins against God and self alone really, not against others. There were no cases of women who stole, murdered, raped, manipulated others etc. So overall, it was revealing instances of women who came to love themselves again. I suppose this repetitive feeling could have been avoided if it were read as a daily devotional type of book instead of simply reading one after another. However, the the style of writing and the short length of the chapters made it a quick read.
There are, of course, theological issues to be considered as well. I found difficulty in understanding the rationalizations some of the women had for God's role in their suffering or lack thereof. In some stories God was with the women being raped or hurt, and in others the women found themselves 'protected' or 'blessed' by God that they were not raped, stolen, or murdered. So why did God allow some to be raped and supposedly protected others?
On the positive side, everyone will be able to see a part of themselves in at least one of these women and in that sense makes you feel not so alone in whatever you have faced or may be facing. It reinforces the importance of having good, helpful, and caring people in your world who care about you. It also inspires you to be one of these very people who will accept anyone where they are and not judge others. I guess it goes back to the saying 'Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself.' We all have our issues and should be more understanding of the shortcomings of others.
There was one story whose character I found to be the most sincere in here repentance and change: Sarah from Part 5 concerning 'Man Trouble'. She had started an affair with a pastor who was already married but later repented and actually went to the pastor's wife and others whom she had hurt and confessed and apologized to them. This I feel is someone who truly showed her repentance and who deserves to be forgiven. In another book I have read recently, The Noticer by Andy Andrews, there was a passage along the lines of 'An apology is acceptable if you make a mistake, but something more must be done if you have made a choice. In this case you need to rebuild your trust by demonstrating by your actions that you have changed." Sarah seems to have done this more than some of the other women in this book.
As a final word, I think this book gives the reader a lot to think about, but was not very wide in its scope nor entirely convincing in its 'evidence' of God's love.
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June 6, 2010Title: LOVED
Author: Rebecca St. James
Publisher: Faithwords
September 2009
ISBN: 978-0-446-19701-4
Genre: Inspirational/forgiveness
Bad choices. We all make them.
LOVED is a collection of true stories of modern-day prodigals (names have been changed) who have fallen away from God, but then rediscovered the power of His love and forgiveness.
Each section begins with a story about a Biblical woman who was a prodigal, told in the Biblical way, with some embellishments to make it more interesting. Then following that are stories of women who had similar experiences.
In the beginning, Ms. St. James shares how her life coach taught her about receiving God’s love. He poured water over her hands and told her to try to catch it. She ended up with only wet hands. But then he had her cup her hands and soon they were filled to overflowing with water. Ms. St. James shares that’s how it is with God’s love. We just have to stand there, palms open, and receive His love.
No matter what your situation, whether you had a slow steady spiral away from God, whether you never knew Him and are reaching out, or whether you’ve been the Christian good girl who can’t forgive herself for a mistake, then LOVED is a book for you to consider. Each story reveals God’s amazing love and the miracle of a life saved by Jesus Christ. $16.99. 229 pages.
Author: Rebecca St. James
Publisher: Faithwords
September 2009
ISBN: 978-0-446-19701-4
Genre: Inspirational/forgiveness
Bad choices. We all make them.
LOVED is a collection of true stories of modern-day prodigals (names have been changed) who have fallen away from God, but then rediscovered the power of His love and forgiveness.
Each section begins with a story about a Biblical woman who was a prodigal, told in the Biblical way, with some embellishments to make it more interesting. Then following that are stories of women who had similar experiences.
In the beginning, Ms. St. James shares how her life coach taught her about receiving God’s love. He poured water over her hands and told her to try to catch it. She ended up with only wet hands. But then he had her cup her hands and soon they were filled to overflowing with water. Ms. St. James shares that’s how it is with God’s love. We just have to stand there, palms open, and receive His love.
No matter what your situation, whether you had a slow steady spiral away from God, whether you never knew Him and are reaching out, or whether you’ve been the Christian good girl who can’t forgive herself for a mistake, then LOVED is a book for you to consider. Each story reveals God’s amazing love and the miracle of a life saved by Jesus Christ. $16.99. 229 pages.
October 2, 2009
What more can I do for the people around me? Can I take the time and energy to really see what others are suffering through? These are the questions that I was left with when I finished reading this book. While the individual stories were not exceptionally well-written, it made me think about all the heartache that it surrounding me. This book is about women who have fallen away from Christ for whatever reason and have found their way back to Him. It is another piece of evidence that God is real and that He will go to any length to see His children back in His arms.
March 8, 2010
there were some really inspiring stories in this book, but after the first chapter, they all seemed to blend into one: little girl accepts Jesus, adolescent goes through a rebellious stage, remorseful woman comes back to Him. that's a beautiful thing! but what about adults who become born again and then fall away? not one story! loved the message of GOD's utter love for us and unfailing forgiveness, but it could have been a little more diverse...
September 25, 2009
There are some wonderful stories in this book. All are stories of prodigal daughters and how they found they way home. Many reminded me of myself. This would be a great book for anyone who needs hope that things can work out no matter how bad they seem.
March 24, 2010
Through no fault of the author I wanted this book to speak to me and provide inspiration getting me back to faith as some other books have been, but none of the stories spoke to me or even closely related to me.
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March 19, 2021I just won this book from goodreads!! When I receive it and read it I will give a review of this book.
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September 30, 2009My mom saw that I won this book and she wanted to read it, she said it was a pretty good book
June 16, 2010
The book was interesting. Some of the stories were very moving and inspirational, but they started to get really repetitive after a while.
Currently reading
August 10, 2010Encouraging, honest, and a great book to share with others who are real people with real needs.
Want to read
August 20, 2013I got to have this book!
January 25, 2014
I get that these stories were supposed to inspire, but they kind of depressed me or rung hollow in a lot of ways.
April 4, 2014
Stories of prodigals. At the end, they all realized one thing: they are loved. :)
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February 9, 2010it was so good!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews