Fear the LORD, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
Psalm 34:9
The concept of the fear of God is something that many people have trouble understanding. When they read the word fear they immediately associate it with dread and horror. They think that walking in the fear of God is living constantly scared and afraid that God will punish them. Many try to contrast the fear of God with the teachings of love that our Lord Jesus Christ gave and they have even tried to make others believe that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament by making one a being of wrath and the other a being of love. This is precisely where they get more confused because they can not understand that on God love and mercy as wrath and justice can coexist. What allows these conflicting concepts to be consistent in the person of God is his grace which has been shed in abundance and made available to anyone who wants to take shelter in it.
The fear of God is nothing but showing respect, reverence and obedience to God. The fear of God is the attitude that puts us in our just standing before God as creatures he has created and chosen and to whom he has offered grace and forgiveness so we can live now in righteousness and holiness through the merits earned by our Lord Jesus Christ in the cross of Golgotha.
This attitude of respect, reverence and obedience brings juicy rewards for those who show it before God, making it doubly beneficial. Let us look, therefore, to always walk in the fear of God, and not to dread and panic but rather with peace and joy because we are children of God and the recipients of his matchless love. To God alone be the glory!
Hope for All 