1st Lady’s Blog – The Advocate

A victimized person bears the scars of the wrong committed against them. A victim is a person who has not yet able to overcome the symptoms of their ill-treatment. Because there is evil in this world, we sometimes fall prey to perpetrators who leave us scarred with the physical and emotional evidence of our victimization. Many times, these pains can prevent us from progressing in life.

A victor is a person who has overcome their violation. They can pick up the pieces of their lives and continue to progress. Occasionally old ghosts come back to haunt them, but victors can still press through and continue on with their lives. But while victors have gained a personal victory, unfortunately, no one knows their story and no one can benefit from their experience.

The advocate is the one with a story to tell. They continually share their story so that others will be aware and either not fall prey to the same victimization or have the tools and information to overcome. The advocate is not only concerned about his or her own personal triumph, but also wants to see others overcome their personal struggles.

Becoming an advocate is a position we as Christians ought to covet. When we overcome difficulty we need to be a refuge for others. We need to play a role in helping them achieve victory over their circumstances. They need to hear our story and see us fight for them.

Jesus is our advocate today. When He overcame the grave, He became our advocate to the Father. He stands on our behalf to make things right with the Father. He advocates for us to get a second chance and allows us to begin a new life.

We need to go from being a victim, to a victor and ultimately, to an advocate. Although we may want to stop after becoming a victim, God has given us the power to overcome. He says we are more than conquerors through him that loved us (Romans 8:37).We can become victors, but we should not even stop there. We need to get to the place of advocacy where we can help others overcome. If we overcome but never share this good news with anyone, we have not helped anyone but ourselves. I marvel at people who are able to take tragedy and convert it into a learning experience and so many others are helped by it. Remember, someone needs us to be their advocate that they may be able to prevail during their time of difficulty.