Fight for Innocence

     When we are young, we can't wait to grow up.  We want to be able to stay up late, do what we want to do, and experience life without asking permission.  We don't realize that growing up comes with a cost.  The more you experience in the world, the more innocence is lost.  Normally, it is so subtle that you don't even realize what is being taken from you. 
     When you have an encounter with God, He reveals just how much you lost.  We have to fight the norms of society to keep our innocence safe.  Once lost, it can never truly be retrieved.  What you see, can't be unseen.  What you hear, can't be unheard.  Your deeds cannot be erased, except in God's book through repenting in prayer. 
     We have all done things.  We all have lost different levels of innocence.  However, God can replace a sense of innocence back into your life.  He can shield you from seeing and hearing certain things as long as you do not pursue them.  Evil can happen right in front of you and He can shield you from having any impact.  It all depends on your level of humility and faithful relationship with Him. 
     To take someone else's innocence is a terrible sin.  To steal something like that is cruel.  We probably have all done it to some level without realizing it.  I am praying that if I have that God will reveal it to me, so that I can ask for forgiveness from Him.  If I need to make restitution, then He will reveal how that needs to be done.

Matthew 18: 1-9