The hardest thing we do as a person, is to extend forgiveness to another, yet we are never more like God than when we do. Forgiveness is easy to talk about, but hard to live through, because we are often being controlled by the emotions of the situation. I was reminded today of Romans 12:17-21 as I prepared for this weeks message. I focused on verse 18, “As much as is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” We must understand that we can NOT always live at peace with people, but we can learn to allow the emotions of the events to subside as we learn to allow God to work in the lives of those who have sinned against us. We do not have to work to “get even,” and we do not have to allow their actions to control our lives. As we learn to give things over to the Lord, we find the strength to tackle life. We can know that God will deal with those who sin against us, in ways that we can not begin to understand, and while it is difficult to process, it is not impossible to do. Why? Because we have the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to overcome. Living in the power of God enables us to respond to our circumstances, and overcome the emotions that try to cause us to react to people and events. Learning to trust the Lord with these things brings peace and contentment in the midst of our circumstances.