Lament Forgive

“Were the Israelites selfish to ask God to free them from Egyptian slavery? No way! There’s no chance any of us would conclude that. We’d all agree there is no selfishness involved in wanting to be free from the ongoing injustice of another’s sin. Forgiving is no different. It is neither selfish nor individualistic to want to be free from the damaging influence of our own Egypts.”

— Steve Hall, Lament Forgive, p.87

When I set out twelve years ago to write a book about forgiveness, I didn't expect lamenting to take over half the book. I'm still surprised.

I was simply looking for a way to help me express forgiveness as a journey that heals our deepest pain. Because that's the thing with how Christians traditionally talk about forgiveness. We use instant, one-and-done metaphors like cancelling, pardoning, or letting go, all of which prioritise freeing the people who hurt us and inadvertently make forgiving irrelevant to the healing process.

In Lament Forgive, I propose we start talking about forgiving as untangling a knot. It's a metaphor that helps us see forgiving as something that takes time and repetition, but ultimately ends in our healing. If we first learn how to lament!

This reframing of forgiveness leads us to reject any notion where God punishes sin before he forgives, inviting us instead to see the cross of Christ as the place where Jesus seeks to heal the damage sin causes by suffering himself.

You can purchase a paperback version on Amazon, or an ebook version on Amazon Kindle or Apple Books.

Steve Hall
August 2026