In theatres now, I Wanna Dance with Somebody is a biographical musical drama based on the life of Whitney Houston (Naomi Ackie, Star Wars: Episode IV— The Rise of Skywalker). Whitney’s mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston (Tamara Tunie, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), encouraged her to join the junior gospel choir at the Baptist church the family attended in Newark, New Jersey. She performed her first solo when she was just 11 years old. As a teenager, Whitney sang in nightclubs with her mom and even sang background vocals for Chaka Khan. She became a fashion model, gracing the cover of magazines, and she began acting in commercials.

In 1983, music producer Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy) signed her to a worldwide record deal. Her first album was released on Valentine’s Day 1985. It sold 22 million copies worldwide, and Whitney became an international superstar.

In 1989, she met singer Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders, Moonlight), and the couple married in 1992. Whitney’s success expanded into movies, including The Bodyguard, and she seemed to have it all. 

But in the late ’90s, rumours of drug use and physical and emotional abuse in her marriage began to circulate. Bobby was arrested for battery after one of their arguments got out of hand. The couple was caught with drugs on multiple occasions. Whitney went to rehab, but the drugs—and Bobby—had a hold on her, and she seemed trapped in her tumultuous lifestyle.

In 2005, the couple starred in a reality show that Bobby hoped would improve his image with the public. It did the opposite, only highlighting their troubled relationship. A year later, Whitney filed for divorce. Her roller-coaster marriage was over, but the revolving door in and out of rehab continued.

In a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Whitney told her, "I wasn't happy with the marriage. ... I was losing me." With time running out, would she be able to find herself again?

Straying Off the Path

From the outside, Whitney Houston lived a life many people would envy. She had talent, beauty, fame and wealth. She had everything this world tells us is important. But behind her Grammy Awards and platinum albums, she experienced heartbreak and struggle, some of which was due to her own bad choices.

But nearly all of us have made mistakes that caused us—and others—pain.

Staying on the right path in life isn’t easy, even if we’re rich and famous. Maybe especially if we’re rich and famous. Even when we start well— attending church and building a relationship with God as Whitney did as a child—it’s easy to stray from God’s plan for us. Inevitably, this gets us into trouble.

Looking for Love

The movie about Whitney Houston’s life is called I Wanna Dance with Somebody, but her hit song by the same name has an added qualifier. The full song title is I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me).

How many of us wander through this life searching for someone to love us? No matter how successful we become in our chosen field, without love, we often feel empty inside.

We make many of our worst choices when we’re chasing love or acceptance. It’s easy to compromise our values if we think it will earn us someone else’s approval. To make someone like us, we might try drugs, behave promiscuously or even stop practising our faith. It's easy to make unhealthy decisions in the pursuit of love.

But God wants to fill that emptiness inside us, and we don’t have to earn His love. It’s a gift He offers us, and all we have to do is accept it. It’s the best choice we can make.

God’s love for us—given freely and unconditionally—is truly the greatest love of all.

Photo: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing

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