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Do you have a grip on, or understanding of, what it means to forgive? How to forgive? Why to forgive–and why we should forgive? I don’t mind telling you that this is something I’ve truly struggled with, off and on throughout my life. Valerie Limmer’s lovely, refreshing book is both a primer and an advanced-level teaching–in a kind, humble, and honest manner–on forgiveness. It is beautiful, sometimes full of epiphany, and definitely a book I recommend for you. Here’s more about it, plus my own review a little later in the post. (Plus, you can enter to win!)
Welcome to the Blog Tour for Captive Set Free by Valerie Limmer, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
About the Book
Have you been hurt? Are you hounded by turbulent feelings and looping thoughts? Do you know you need to forgive but aren’t sure where to begin?
Captive Set Free is a lamppost along the path of healing, offering engaging stories and examples, explaining how forgiveness fits into our spiritual DNA, and examining mindsets that make forgiving easier or harder. In this book, you’ll learn how to – take concrete steps to forgive; – be sure forgiveness has taken hold in your heart; and – guard your spirit from bitterness, both now and in the future. If you’re tired of being imprisoned by pain and toxicity and want to step into the free and abundant life Jesus has planned for His children, this book is for you.PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookDepository | IndieBound | BookBub
About the Author
Valerie Limmer is a missionary in Japan. She is neither a therapist nor a theologian, but she has experienced severe abuse from a handful of people. In Captive Set Free, she shares the principles and techniques she’s learned in her own life on her journeys towards forgiveness.
Connect with Valerie by visiting valerielimmer.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.
Tour Giveaway
(1) winner will receive a copy of Captive Set Free and a $25 Amazon gift card!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight January 9, 2023 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on January 16, 2023. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US/CAN only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.
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Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

My thoughts & experiences with Captive Set Free
Life isn’t easy. In fact, it’s sometimes breathtakingly hard; and painful. Despite the fact that at my core, I’d LOVE for life to be full of sunshine, flowers, and kittens every single day, I am reminded (sometimes more often than I’d prefer) that instead, it’s often difficult. It IS gorgeous too. But sometimes the things that bring us joy (people and relationships) can also bring us pain, heartbreak, and sorrow.
Here’s the question: what do we do with that deep inner pain that results from our interactions with people, whether they’re those we love or those we don’t even know? Scripture’s–and Jesus’s–answer is clear.
Forgive.
Honestly? I don’t even WANT to forgive, sometimes. I want justice! Restoration! Removal of the pain!
Yes, I’m really that emphatic about it in my heart of hearts. But that life and those habits and thought patterns, if left unchecked, can leave me in a well of bitterness. And that bitterness entraps me, binds me, fills my mind with ugly, critical thoughts. And keeps me from living the abundant life Jesus promises me.
Valerie Limmer knows that terrible pain can happen in life. And in her beautiful book, she talks about the wheres, whens, whys of forgiveness. And, she talks about the hows. I need to know why I should forgive. But I also need to know how–and Valerie speaks to that. Here are some of my favorite thoughts that she shares in Captive Set Free:
- “Jesus longs to free us from the painful burden of unforgiveness. He wants to construct a better future for us, but He won’t force us into anything. So, now we must decide what we want.”
- “We always tend to walk in the direction our eyes are looking. This is just as true in the emotional and spiritual realms as it is in the physical one…When we adjust the direction of our gaze and focus on the forgiveness of the cross rather than on the hurt that’s pierced our hearts, our futures are infused with Jesus’ hope and promise…We’re left with a decision. We may not have had a choice over what happened to us, but we have a choice now. It is a sacred gift God has given us.”
- “In reaching out for Him, we may realize we’ve been in His arms all along. God can redeem and heal lives filled with abuse. He can “give back the years the locusts have eaten” (Joel 2:25, my paraphrase) if only we have the courage to let Him perform His divine surgery on our hearts.”
- “It’s all a matter of focus. When we criticize others, our ability to examine ourselves begins to slip.”
Really, there is so much in this book that will equip you on your own journey toward learning to forgive. I’m a list person, so I love the practical actions that Valerie recommends. These are some of them that I’m embracing now:
- Take thoughts captive to the cause of Christ and decide to stop embracing past hurts–while at the same time acknowledging (and not denying) my own emotions
- Utilize exercises to encourage healing/enable forgiveness: realizing my own emotions; praying about it with God; being willing not to demand having the last word; journal; meditate on helpful Scriptures (listed in her book)
- Guard my heart WHILE actively engaging
- And–pace myself. This isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon!
I so needed this book, and I’m truly thrilled to recommend it to you. It will encourage you, inform you, bless you, and help you to embrace and live–with beautiful outcomes–the path of forgiveness.
Enjoy! –Wren
Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.