The Greatest Love for all

Our ConnectGroup is about halfway through Tim Keller's book, "Making Sense of God".  The last couple of chapters have been about how people get their sense of identity.  Those considering themselves secular get their sense of identity from one of two places.   They either let other people around them define it, or they look inside themselves for it.  Last week, we listened to one of Whitney Houston's smash hits from the '80s, "The Greatest Love of All".   She tells us that "learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all".  I loved that song when she released it.  I think loving yourself is important, and that we shouldn't let others control or define how we feel about ourselves.  But 33 years later, I don't hear that song the same way.  I am a broken sinner, and if some of my actions and thoughts define me, then I should probably go crawl in a cave.  I believe that God created me in His image, but He didn't stop there.  He came to earth, lived a perfect life, and died the most excruciating (no pun required) death known to man, as a payment for my sin and the sins of mankind.  Trying to find my identity in Him is what I want to live for.  20 years after Whitney released "The Greatest Love of All" she released this song with a different message.  We know that Whitney battled demons until the day she died, but I hope that the words she proclaimed here were true for her.