A friend recently shared deep fears about the direction of our government, convinced disaster was certain. As I listened, I wondered if we were assuming guilt before evidence appeared. Isn’t that contrary to the principle of “innocent until proven guilty”?
Rather than debate policy, I want to reflect on the words innocence and justice. Innocence often represents purity, humility, or childlike faith. Justice represents law, fairness, and accountability. These two ideas, though different, belong together.
In recovery, I have experienced both. In Step 5, innocence is rediscovered when secrets lose their power — when we confess our wrongs to God, ourselves, and another. Light begins to shine where shame once lived. In Step 9, justice is expressed not through punishment but through healing, by making amends and setting things right. Innocence restored and justice served become the bridge to a new life.
Biblically, Christ embodies both. He is the innocent Lamb of God who also brings perfect justice (Isaiah 53, John 1:29, Alma 34). Gandhi once said: “A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.”
We may never see perfect justice in mortality, yet we are invited to believe in our restored innocence through Christ. In that belief, we can live with hope, guided by His goodness, and become bearers of His love to the world.
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