Nope! I am not! I am not a Linda Ronstadt song. But if I am not careful, the chorus of the classic tune, “You’re No Good,” can vibrate through my head as if stuck on repeat. And then I feel like a Linda Ronstadt song.
Yes, I know that the song is about ending an unhealthy human relationship, but that’s not why the words seem to point their condemning fingers my way. Those fingers point my way when I feel that I do something stupid or say something stupid. Those fingers point my way when someone else is chosen to do something that I had hoped to be chosen for. Those fingers point my way when I check out a social media site and start comparing my life to other people’s life.
They’re:
Better than me
Smarter than me
Prettier than me.
They:
Just went on another vacation
Always get invited to go places
Are a part of the “in crowd” and I’m stuck on the outside.
Yep, there goes the guitar riff, amped up, and ready to launch into another chorus…
“You’re no good, you’re no good, you’re no good
Baby, you’re no good (I’m gonna say it again)
You’re no good, you’re no good, you’re no good
Baby, you’re no good”
But, do you want to know something? I am not a Linda Ronstadt song. Nope. I’m not! Because I believe Romans 8:1, which reminds me that since Christ lives in me, there is no reason for me to believe those pointy condemning fingers. And I am reminded in 1 Peter 5:8 that there is an enemy, the devil, who is out to destroy me through various tactics. One of those tactics is to mess with my thoughts, to lie to me, and to tell me that just because:
I’m not doing what others are doing
or going where others are going
or buying what others are buying
or look how others look
or dress how others dress
or because I am not a part of the “in crowd”
then
I am no good
I am nothing
I am worthless
I am nobody
I am less than
I am junk.
But I am NOT going to believe any of those lies! Nope! I am not! I am going to believe my Heavenly Father who tells me that:
He “created my inmost being”
He “knit me together in my mother’s womb”
And that “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”1
Yes, I do know that His works are wonderful. 2 So I am going to praise Him. 2 Because I am not a Linda Ronstadt song!
Notes:
[1] Psalm 139:13 NIV
[2] Psalm 139:14 NIV