“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” 1 John 2:1

Have you ever experienced a time in your life where you just needed someone to stand in your corner? An advocate to vouch for your actions and defend the decisions you make, even if you are in the wrong. Did anyone show up to fill that role? Or were you left vulnerable to outside judgements and perceptions?

Apart from Christ, we would suffer a far worse kind of exposure before the God of all justice. If we had no advocate and no escape, we would also have no hope. But in Christ, every believer has a defender who stands before the Father on our behalf. First John 2:1 says, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” With our failings exposed, He takes our defense. Our Defender carries our relationship with God beyond a base of fear to a fellowship of grace and truth.

Our challenge is to live lives of purity and integrity that honor our heavenly Father. Yet, when we do fail, we do not need to fear abandonment or ridicule from our Father. We have an advocate who will grasp us in His hands and carry us through. Jesus tells us in John 10:29, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”

Hold on to that truth as tightly as the Father holds onto you.