Book Review: “Not Forsaken: Finding Freedom as Sons and Daughters of a Perfect Father” by Louie Giglio

We know we live in a broken world, but perhaps one of the most clear proofs of this comes in the kinds of relationships many of us have with our dads. Some folks have dads who have passed away, are absent, abandoned us, or are very passive. Other folks have dads who are abusive physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. Even for those of us with great earthly fathers, we still have fallen human beings as our dads, so viewing God as the perfect Heavenly Father can often be a challenge. That is where Louie Giglio’s brand new book, Not Forsaken, comes in!

Louie begins his book in what I find to be a very helpful place – by first acknowledging that many of his readers will have had very painful pasts when it comes to their interactions with their earthly fathers. Louie does not jump in head first in the book to talking about what a great Heavenly Father God is. Doing so would have proven terribly unhelpful for those who cannot even fathom what a good Father would look like, or for those who have excessive, debilitating pain in their hearts as a result of the treatment they received from their earthly dads.

Instead, Louie does what Jesus did for Mary and Martha when their brother, Lazarus died – he enters into the pain of his readers, acknowledges it, and grieves with them. But he does not leave them there. He then proceeds to unpack, bit by bit, chapter by chapter, the kind of character possessed by our great Heavenly Father, successfully showing just how perfect, loving, tender, and truly fatherly God is.

Louie continues by sharing what all this means for us as sons and daughters of God and how His character changes who we now are and our identity in Christ. This book is a resounding dose of encouragement, hope, healing, love, restoration, and vision as it comes alongside you, picks you up, brushes you off from the pain of your past, and sets you firmly on a new path with a new Father. I highly recommend it!

There is only one thing I would point out about the book that some might consider a “con”, and that is that it does seem to be fairly repetitive from time to time. This may have only come across to someone like me, however, who was raised in the church, has a great earthly father, and who has heard about the fatherly character of God all my life. But for someone picking up this book who is reading about all of this for the first time, the repetitive nature of certain aspects of it could actually have a profoundly healing effect as it allows the truth to seep deeply into the reader’s heart and mind. All in all, an excellent book that I would recommend to everyone everywhere!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.