If we obeyed this one simple statement, 95% of all the problems we face in this world would be erased. This determination to set yourself on a different path than that which brought you pain, sorrow and hurt is what FREES you from that hurt. Retribution and vengeance belong to God alone, this is because He alone has the wisdom and knowledge to understand all of the parts. Further it is also only God that has no sin of His own to account for; and we, despite our protests, are never truly innocent in our relationships or our actions once we have grown past infancy. The path of forgiveness begins with the act of choosing to release your "right" for vengeance and even justice. This is because a single person cannot ever act in justice, we are too clouded by our own perspective, too jaded by our own hurt, too bound in our own heads and hearts; but that bondage is self-made. Here is the key to those chains. Do not return evil for evil, do not act in the same manner that has been done… do not burn cities, loot and riot when you feel unjustly treated, do not vow vengeance, do not hunt for the offenders with weapons of hate and rage… when you are wounded, set your heart and your eyes on forgiveness, on mercy, on love. This is how God treats with a blood-guilty rebel who wears your name. He chose to send His Son Jesus to die in your place and pay for your evil and rebellion. He chose mercy, and in so doing showed us the path to mercy. Beloved, the power to change the world has been offered to us; it begins where mercy triumphed, at the cross of Jesus Christ, and from there it extends out through every single one of us who have found that mercy. Through us it reaches out to transform our broken world, one relationship at a time.