Choose To Love

Francesca Battistelli's “Choose To Love” begins with a confession about hiding. She locked up her heart and put on a show, using the busyness of life as a wall so that nobody could get close. She says she got a lot done, being “so type A,” but found that keeping people at arm's length is “a safe but lonely place.”

The chorus is her decision: “I'm gonna choose to reach out, choose to lay down all of the fear that I've been hiding, choose to be brave, though my heart's afraid, to be a part of Your Kingdom rising.” She adds, “God, I'm done running from the reason that You sent Your Son, so I will choose to love.” The second verse admits that love is always a risk and a dare, but that it is “a far more dangerous thing to listen to fear.” It also says there is “a whole lot of life outside of my comfort zone.” The bridge asks for a tender heart “in a world so tough” and accepts the cost: “Maybe I'll hurt, maybe I'll bruise, maybe I'll cry, maybe I'll lose. Still I will choose to love.” The song is direct, upbeat and practical, aimed at people who keep others out for protection.

Perfect love casting out fear is 1 John 4:18. God's love poured into our hearts is Romans 5:5, and love as the greatest of the three is 1 Corinthians 13:13.