Bold Love
Overview
We’ve come to view love as being nice. Forgiving and forgetting. Yielding to the desires of others. Yet the kind of love modeled by Jesus Christ has nothing to do with manners or unconditional acceptance. Rather, it is disruptive, courageous, and socially unacceptable.
In Bold Love, Drs. Dan Allender and Tremper Longman III draw out the aggressive, unrelenting, passionate power of genuine love. Far from helping you “get along” with others, Bold Love introduces the outlandish possibility of making a significant, life-changing impact on your family, friends, coworkers—even your enemies.
“Bold love is anything but passive,” writes Dr. Allender. “It is unpredictable, cunning, and creative. It is a violation of the natural order of things. In many cases it will unnerve, offend, disturb, or even hurt those who are being loved. But in the end it will also compel them to deal with the internal disease that is robbing them (and others) of true beauty.”
So if it feels like you’ve turned the other cheek so many times your head is spinning, it’s probably time to take a second look at your practice of love. Because there’s nothing redemptive about a love that just accepts people for who they are.
With Logos, countless Scripture passages are just a click away. Whether you’re a counselor or you’re being counseled, the Logos edition of Bold Love brings the words of Scripture closer than ever to one of life’s greatest challenges. Search the entire volume by topic to find the exact resources you’re looking for and specific biblical insight on any question. Whether you’re a working counselor looking for a comprehensive set of practical tools or you’re a Christian dealing with the book’s topics in your own life, Bold Love can help you tackle one of today’s toughest issues.
- Practical tools and a biblical focus to heal and restore
- Foreword by Lawrence J. Crabb Jr.
- Numerous real-life stories
Top Highlights
“Forgiving love is the inconceivable, unexplainable pursuit of the offender by the offended for the sake of restored relationship with God, self, and others.” (Page 29)
“Bold love is not reckless or cruel. It is not beating up another in the name of sharing or intervention. Bold love is courageously setting aside our personal agenda to move humbly into the world of others with their well-being in view, willing to risk further pain in our souls, in order to be an aroma of life to some and an aroma of death to others.” (Page 19)
“Our unacknowledged and undealt-with commitment to find life apart from dependence on God, which is a form of subtle hatred of God, blocks our desire and commitment to love others.” (Page 46)
“Sin, or hatred of God, is a defiant movement, sometimes unwitting and other times quite conscious, which refuses to depend on God for His direction and strength.” (Page 53)
“The premise of this book is simple: I will not live with purpose and joy unless I love; I will not be able to love unless I forgive; and I will not forgive unless my hatred is continually melted by the searing truth and grace of the gospel. True biblical forgiveness is a glorious gift for both the offender and the offended. Few of us have ever understood what the Bible really means when it speaks of forgiveness, and clarity won’t come immediately in the early chapters of this book. But keep reading. Forgiveness is even harder than we think it is—but infinitely more life-giving. If love offers life, forgiveness enables love.” (Page 30)
One of this year’s ten best books!
—Christianity Today, 1993 Reader’s Poll
The best modern book on love I’ve ever read.
—Dr. C. John Miller, director, World Harvest Mission
- Title: Bold Love
- Authors: Dan B. Allender and Tremper Longman III
- Publisher: NavPress
- Publication Date: 1992
- Pages: 320
Dan B. Allender received his MDiv from Westminster Theological Seminary and his PhD in counseling psychology from Michigan State University. Dan taught biblical counseling at Grace Theological Seminary for seven years (1983–1989). From 1989 to 1997, Dan worked as a professor in the Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling program at Colorado Christian University in Denver, Colorado. Currently, Dan serves as a professor of counseling psychology at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology in Seattle, Washington.
Tremper Longman III (PhD, Yale University) is the Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College. Tremper has authored or coauthored 20 books and numerous articles.