The vital quality of innocence

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.