Forgiven and Set Free: A Post-Abortion Bible Study for Women

By Linda Cochrane

Disheartening numbers of women have undergone an abortion--and they need help to heal emotionally and spiritually. This study was developed out of Linda Cochrane's own experience of being freed from the bondage of guilt and grief that followed her abortion. Forgiven and Set Free guides suffering and hurting women to bring their emotional scars from abortion "out of the dark past and into his holy light," where true and lasting healing can take place. Appropriate Scriptures help women deal with issues such as relief, denial, anger, forgiveness, depression, letting go, and acceptance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Release date: May 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9781441227072

Linda Cochrane

Linda Cochrane is the executive director of Hopeline Women's Center in Monroe, Connecticut, and is cofounder of PACE (Post-Abortion Counseling and Education). She is the author of Forgiven and Set Free, Healing a Father's Heart, and The Path to Sexual Healing. Cochrane resides in New York.

Book preview

© 1986, 1991, 1996, 2015 by CareNet

Published by Baker Books

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakerbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2015

Ebook corrections 07.31.2017

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4412-2707-2

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations labeled TLB are taken from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

What a wonderful God we have—he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.

2 Corinthians 1:3–4 TLB

Contents

Cover    1

Title Page    3

Copyright Page    4

Epigraph    5

Preface    9

How to Use This Book    11

Acknowledgments    13

1. How Do I Know Where I Need Healing?    15

2. The Character of God    25

3. Relief and Denial    43

4. Anger    57

5. The Need to Forgive     71

6. Depression    83

7. Forgiven and Set Free    99

8. Acceptance    113

Conclusion    123

About the Author    125

Other Books by Linda Cochrane    126

Back Ads    127

Back Cover    128

Preface

This Bible study was formed out of a personal desire to see women freed from the bondage of guilt and grief that follows an abortion. Not all women are affected in the same manner. I realize there are women who seemingly have no regrets about choosing abortion and who have no apparent signs of physical or psychological side effects. This Bible study was prepared for the women who have experienced some degree of remorse or regret. Over the years I have seen women healed from guilt, shame, grief, and unforgiveness. It has been an honor to watch God slowly and gently heal those who have been suffering for many years. We hope you will join this group of courageous women who have chosen to face the hurts of their past.

A woman who hurts after an abortion is not always understood. The intensity of her emotional reaction is a shock to her as well as to those from whom she seeks counsel. They ask, How does something that is a woman’s right hurt so much? More often than not, her emotional response is due to her grieving the loss of her child, and this grief is an appropriate response.

The circumstances that lead a woman to choose abortion are not indicative of the intensity of her emotional reactions. Women who choose abortion for what they consider all the right reasons at the time are not exempt from mourning the loss of their child. Women who have had abortions for medical reasons (it was their life or the child’s) grieve just as intensely as women who choose abortion with little forethought or counsel. The scars of abortion are often so deep that women have difficulty sharing their pain with others. Pre-abortion counseling does not adequately inform them about the possibility of intense emotional reactions, so women isolate themselves from others, thinking there is something wrong with them for not coping well with grief.

Abortion was taken out of the back alley medically when it was made legal in 1973. Spiritually speaking, abortion is still in the back alley. It is a decision that is surrounded by secrecy and shame. Many women suffer a spiritual crisis following abortion.

This Bible study is a tool for women who want to repair their relationships with God. It is for women who will never choose abortion again, for those who want to turn from their own ways and learn God’s way of love and forgiveness. This Bible study was not written from a distance, guessing at what God wants to say to the woman who has had an abortion; rather, it is what

Reviews for Forgiven and Set Free

[Katie Burnam · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This study I went through in 2013.
I am so Thankful to have had this book and a group setting to walk through it with from First Coast Women Services.
I trully know now what Jesus did on the cross for my Sin. He loves us/ me first.
Sometimes we get stuck on I know I'm forgiven but I can't forgive myself.
This book will help you with that thought.
It is a Lie from the enemy just like Abortion is.
The Cross was to Save us from ourselves. We deserve the wrath of God but He sends His Son Jesus to take it for you and me.
This is just the beginning of Knowing what Forgiven and Set free means and what True Love is.
I pray whoever needs this that You read it or go and be Set free . Your life will be changed forever.