Regret Free Living Hope for Past Mistakes and Freedom From Unhealthy Patterns
Regret Free Living Hope for Past Mistakes and Freedom From Unhealthy Patterns
Steve Arterburn, bestselling author and host of NewLife Live!, shares his regrets and how he learned to live beyond them and allow God to use them. With grace and transparency, Arterburn shows why people get stuck in regret, how it impacts every relationship they enter into, and the steps to emotional and spiritual freedom. More importantly, he offers a clear, proven decision-making process that empowers readers to make the best decisions for their lives–decisions that they won't regret. Just as worry results from not accepting God's full provision for the future, living in regret is an inability to accept God's full provision for the past, especially the mistakes. Regret-Free Living takes the focus off of what was and what might have been, and shines a bright light onto the path of what is and what is to be.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars A Good Read
As a pastor one of the things I like to do is to come up with a theme for each year. This year I have decided on the "Year of Hope." In my search for resources and ideas on where people need hope and the hope that they have I came across a book by Stephen Arterburn entitled "Regret-Free Living: Hope For Past Mistakes And Freedom From Unhealthy Patterns." One area of hope that I decided I wanted to talk about was in the area of relationships. Many people seem to have a lot of difficulty with destructive and unhealthy relationships and habits. This book offers some helpful insight into this area. This book does not pat you on the back and make you feel good just to make you feel good, but instead Arterburn shows us that we have accept responsibility for our actions and the state of our relationships. He also takes the time to help identify some tools that we have at our disposal to help us live a regret-free life. This book, while it is specifically about hope for relationships, has been a help in that area. I recommend this book for those seeking hope in your relationships.
5 Stars Don't Wait One More Day
In Chapter 2 of Regret-Free Living, Mr. Arterburn quotes poet May Angelou who once wrote, "History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again." In the book, Steve urges the reader to step back into the past to analyze past mistakes and learn from personal history how not to repeat the errors and missteps.
What has caused your regret? What was your part in the situation? Do you need to grant forgiveness in order to move on? With a voice of experience and his relatable style, Steve is fantastic at thinking up humorous hypothetical situations and sharing very real situations, some positive, many painful, from his own life to show the reader how to avoid living a life of regret, and is careful to give scriptural foundation for his advice.
My advice? Make yourself a big, squishy peanut butter and jelly sandwich (you'll know why when you read the book) and get ready to examine your past and make plans to live regret-free in the future. Highly recommended!
* Reviewed as a Bethany House Reviewer
4 Stars Great Wisdom
Leading Christian counselor Stephen Arterburn has a great new book out. Is it possible to live regret free in our relationships? In his book Regret-Free Living, Arterburn great wisdom and advice for just that. He thoroughly examines relationships, and all aspects of relationships, from unhealthy and broken, to accepting responsibility, knowing when to leave or how to work through and restoring warmth, love and trust. There are many great nuggets of wisdom contained herein. It will help you examine the various relationships in your own life and how to deal with them. This is a book that should be in every household.
This book was provided to me for review by Bethany House Publishers.
3 Stars Not what I expected, given the title…
Regret-Free Living, a new book by Stephen Arteburn, discusses the issue of living under the pain of regret. But more than that, it shows you how to get out of that pattern of defeatism. When I picked up Arteburn's book, I thought it would be about not feeling guilty about the little everyday decisions that we make with ourselves in mind. You know, not feeling guilty about declining invitations to be the chairman of the board of volunteers, etc. It wasn't at all about that kind of regret or guilt. The book centered much more on relationships and healthy living in a relationship rather than guilt or regret specifically. While I enjoyed the book, this twist made me feel a little like I had been sold a bill of goods that I didn't really bargain for.
I think that this book could have been better titled and marketed in order to really reach the niche audience they are writing for. The book was interesting, well-written and insightful, but didn't speak to my personal situation right now. Perhaps it is my fault for not reading any reviews on the book before selecting it. However, I try to remain as unbiased as possible in order to write a truthful personal review. Bottom line: it just wasn't my favorite book. I don't think I'll keep it on my shelf. I can, however, see it being the perfect book for someone who is going through a difficult time a relationship. Overall I give it three out of five stars.
Note for Full Disclosure: While I do not receive any monetary compensation for my book reviews, I am provided with free complimentary copies of each book. That being said, this review is completely my own, and free from the influence of Bethany House Publishers.
4 Stars Regret-Free Living
I have to admit, I have read one other book by Stephen Arterburn and I actually left the book feeling worse than when I started it. So, I was hesitant to read another book by this author, but I have come a long way in the years since I read that book and his new book, Regret-Free Living is about a more practical, everyday issue. And that issue is healing and repairing unhealthy relationships. Mr. Artherburn presents the reader with useable information about unhealthy relationships starting with how to tell the signs of an unhealthy relationship. He then takes the reader through the steps to either mend relationships or to take the steps to move on and heal and find forgiveness.
I found Regret-Free Living to be a useful and practical book. The information presented here is well organized and clear. This book covers a lot of more surface level issues and does not take the reader in-depth, which I think is acceptable because a reader who needs more depth would probably benefit from one-on-one therapy like I had. The author has included several experiences from his past and experiences from people he has helped which makes it simpler to apply his guidance to our lives. He emphasizes the need for God in our healing and in our relationships.
Unlike the last book I read by this author, I feel comfortable recommending this book to readers who have or have had unhealthy relationships. It is written in a kind and friendly manner that readers will find comforting and helpful.
Related posts:
- Beyond the Lie – Finding Freedom from the Past
- From Fear to Freedom – Living as Sons and Daughters of God
- Biblical Healing and Deliverance – A Guide to Experiencing Freedom from Sins of the Past – Destructive Beliefs, Emotional and Spiritual Pain, Curses and Oppression
- How to Act Right When Your Spouse Acts Wrong – Indispensable Guides for Godly Living
- Freedom from Addiction Breaking the Bondage of Addiction and Finding Freedom in Christ
- Living Buddha – Living Christ, 10th Anniversary Edition
- Flying Free – A Journey from Fundamentalism to Freedom
- Living the Cross Centered Life Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing
- Breaking Free – Discover the Victory of Total Surrender
- Surprised by Hope – Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection and the Mission of the Church
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