You are NOT worthless.

Worthless: having no real value or use.

When I was a kid I was pretty well behaved and also pretty quiet. Unfortunately, that meant my dad left without me a handful of times.. Relatedly, my mom would pick me up from school and tell me, "If you’re not outside when I’m here to pick you up I’m leaving."

Which totally sounds like a mom thing to say and I get it.

However, between being forgotten because I was easy to miss and being told I would be left, I grew up feeling worthless.

Until recently, I would never have said that word about myself. "Worthless" sounds foreign to me. It sounds big. It sounds just so. so. sad. I don’t feel like that person.

I’m beginning to learn that I do have an underlying sense of worthlessness; a feeling that I'm not very important or worth noticing. It is these feelings that have made me feel unloved when I'm not included--whether intentional or not.

Maybe someone reading this feels worthless too. Maybe you are desperate to be loved, to be wanted, to be told that you are special. I know I can’t be the only person who feels this way.

For anyone who feels this way, I have something important for you to remember.

Just because your feelings are not true does not mean they’re not real. 

I am NOT worthless, even if I really feel that way sometimes.

It helps to make a list. Write down ways that you are truly loved. Don't wait until you are in a downward spiral to make the list, do it when you are feeling positive. At least, that's how it works for me. If I'm feeling unloved, it's very difficult to think of even one way that I feel loved. But if I have the list ready, when I'm in the depths of despair (Anne anyone?), I can refer to this list and lift my spirits.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31 (ESV)

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Psalm 58:6 (NLT)

...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (ESV)