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The vital quality of innocence
Cherishing our God-given innocence helps to propel our own and others’
ongoing progress as Christian followers.
Describing someone as “innocent” might sound rather negative, maybe indicating that they’re naive, unsophisticated, or unable to cope with life’s more complex challenges. To give another perspective, though, one definition for innocence in Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary is “freedom from guilt or sin through being unacquainted with evil: Blamelessness.” As we become more closely acquainted with God, good, as pure divine Truth, we discover our God-given innocence and well-being as God’s reflection.
Correspondingly, we start to see evil impressions or suggestions as having no authority or place in our thinking and lives. This means we can actively refuse to engage with unhelpful, untruthful, divisive theories, including conspiracy theories from any viewpoint. This negative information can tend to overwhelm us, but holding thought to our God-given ability to express innocent trust in Him purifies our motives and our thinking.

July 19, 2021 issue
View IssueEditorial
Keeping Watch
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How can we have quicker healings?
Deborah Huebsch
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The vital quality of innocence
Alison J. Hughes
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‘Lo, I am with you alway’
Name Withheld
Teen
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“I started running faster and faster”
Steve Creighton
Glimpses of Truth
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Only a moment
Cicely Gallagher
Healings
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Anxiety attacks healed
Gemariah Love
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Scorpion sting healed
Patrick Barrett
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Unnatural bleeding stopped
Joy Albins
Poetry
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You’re blessed
Suzanne Goewert
Bible Lens
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Truth
July 19–25, 2021
From our readers
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Letters & Conversations
Auriel Wyndham Livezey, Uta Kuehnast, Kristen F. McCormick