Pardon Me

If innocence is lost it can be re-found so get out of the gutter and back on the playground. When you were a small child you enjoyed innocence. Life was good, you were happy and the biggest thing on your mind was playing. But then something happened - an opportunity came for you do something bad and you took it. You were no longer felt innocent and happy but guilty and ashamed. Guilt is the pain of knowing you are wrong. It’s like the warning light that tells you to fix things before a total breakdown. You can ignore it if you want to and the more you do the easier its gets to overlook it and the worse things get. Since childhood we’ve had a multitude of opportunities to offend and the citations seem to be stacked up to the ceiling. There is a common misconception that since we’ve obviously been found guilty that we can never be innocent again. After all no one is perfect and only those in complete denial will say they have never done anything wrong. We’ve all broken God’s law and it has hurt our hearts and we know that some day we will all stand before Him and give an account. I don’t know about you but I never looked forward to my day in court and especially when I knew I was guilty. But one day I found out that there was One who came to do the time and pay the fines. Jesus took our place in the judgment and offered to restore our innocence. He said that we should become as little children and that if we received Him and accepted His sacrifice for us that we could come to God as our heavenly Father without guilt and shame. Not because were so good - but because He is and has made a way for us to be innocent all the days of our life on His account. It’s really a great truth and wonderful source of joy when you realize that you can be innocent again. And once you know that you are innocent then you can start acting like it. God Himself came - not to condemn you to death and put you down, but to lift you up out of the gutter of guilt and shame, and set you on His lap as an innocent child never again to be the same.

Matt 18:1-5
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.
NKJV