This week, I had two experiences that reminded me of the beauty and power of innocence.

The first experience happened while I was shopping and came across a display of children’s books. There on the shelf was a book my mother used to read to me, Poky Little Puppy. Immediately I traveled back in time and became a little boy sitting on my mother’s lap listening to her read that book to me.

The second experience happened the next day. As I was watering our garden, unbeknownst to me a newborn baby deer had slipped under our garden fence and found a safe place to sleep while its mother was away feeding. As my water hose cascaded over our fresh lettuce, the fawn let out a sorrowful bleat and stood up confused. I slowly opened the garden gate and allowed the fawn to run away.

Those expressions of innocence had me think about how we can return to a place of innocence when we have been exposed to so much evil in the world. Paul wrote, “I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil” (Romans 16:19).

A return to innocence is possible. It will not remove the sound of evil or its images but it will realign our thinking with what pleases the Lord. Our choices will train us to seek out innocence even as evil surrounds us and seems to be overwhelming us with its influence.

Jesus said, “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be as wary as serpents, and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). The Lord’s use of the word “innocence” can be translated as “harmless.” It is innocent and harmless because we have made a choice to seek and focus on what is good and right.

Evidence of God’s redemption in our lives is seen when we choose to focus on things that honor the Lord, not appeal to the impulse of our flesh. With so many appeals and images sent to rob us of our innocence, we can do something to change the effect of those issues.

Paul wrote, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8). This is a kind of innocence that is wary of anything not of God. It’s also a protection of our innocence, something that will have a powerful effect on our character and our witness.

“Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers[of this world, rather than from Christ” (Colossians 2:8).