Book- Living Beyond Offense
Living Beyond Offense goes on sale November 4th.
TRENDING
“My father was my first teacher in forgiveness. His frequent absence made him the primary vehicle God would use to teach me my first lessons on forgiveness. I was a daddy’s girl without a dad. I spent countless days standing behind the screen door, waiting for him to make good on his promise to come.”
Bringing together theology, Scripture, and pieces of her own story of parental abandonment and friendship betrayal, Bible teacher Yana Jenay Conner explores Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness—what it is, how to do it, and what you gain when you put it into practice—in Living Beyond Offense: Doing the Hard Work of Forgiveness God’s Way (on sale November 4, 2025).
Conner also shares the lows of navigating friendship betrayal and the struggle to forgive, pursue reconciliation, and learn to trust again. Throughout the book, she invites the reader to honestly acknowledge and grieve the pain and loss that often come with offense and provides tangible tools for moving through the pain toward forgiveness, including:
How to identify the difference between real and perceived offenses
How to humbly confront those who’ve sinned against you
How to identify and replace faulty cultural ideas about forgiveness with a biblical perspective centered on Jesus’ teachings
How to thoughtfully engage in the work of forgiveness and, when possible, pursue reconciliation
How to discern when, and if, trust can be restored after an offense
Conner shares the hard truths of why forgiveness is not about forgetting, nor does it always lead to reconciliation, but it’s essential for the health of our relationships with others and, more importantly, God.
Yana Jenay Conner, is a writer and Bible teacher who seeks to help others think well about faith and culture. Her debut book is Living Beyond Offense: Doing the Hard Work of Forgiveness God’s Way. By God’s grace, she has served in full-time ministry for 15 years in both church and parachurch contexts and has contributed to Jude 3 Project’s Through the Eyes of Color; Swing Low, Volume 2: An Anthology of Black Christianity in the United States; and the She Reads Truth Devotional. She is the host of the podcast Living Single with Yana Jenay, where she explores the nuances of singleness beyond societal expectations. She currently serves as the adult ministry director at Vertical Church in Hillsborough, NC, where she creates disciple-making communities and develops leaders for transformative ministry. Website | Instagram: @yanajenay | Facebook: @yanajconner
