Worthless

I know I’m weird. Sometimes, I like red lights. They let me read the bumper stickers without the threat of crashing (trust me, when you drive like I do, any little bit helps). Parents of honor students. Political campaigns. You name it, chances are I’ve seen it. But the other day I saw one that still has me stunned. One poignant word spanned an entire rear windshield.

Worthless.

Have you seen it? I’d wager it’s written across much more than the back of a 4×4. It?s something many of us have allowed to be engraved upon our very souls. A teenage child highlighting our inadequacies. Divorce. Being looked over for a promotion or raise. A friend turning their back on us. We’ve come to allow these and so much more to print something across our hearts, a morbid lie that cripples and defines us.

Worthless. Incompetent. Disgraceful.

Blinking back tears, I pondered what would cause someone to paste such a dreadful statement on their car. Surely it couldn’t represent the condition of the vehicle, for it clearly was a new model. Had the owner bought into the deception, just as I have on so many occasions, underestimating her value and position? How I wish I could give her the following “bumper sticker,” the same one I hope will replace the lie we’ve accepted:

Oh, my child. Do you not know? Have you not heard? I, the LORD your God, am with you. I am mighty to save. I take great delight in you. I will quiet you with my love. Oh, sweet, sweet child. Do you know I rejoice over you with singing? (Zephaniah 3:17) You are my beloved. You are so very valuable to me. I love you.