The Fear of the Lord is not the fear that is in a person , for eg; death , calamity , animals, person. It is the fear that comes forth out of the love , respect, and reverence for God’s power and authority. A proper “Fear of the Lord” leads one to love God instead of causing someone to be afraid of Him. It is not a outright terror but it is a submission and commitment to God’s Word.
‘Fear of God’ is one proper motive for serving God and trying to please Him. Having an appropriate reverence for God is the beginning point for all true knowledge and fearing Him is the wise thing to do because the book of Proverbs and other scripture says ‘ The Fear of the Lord ‘ is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom ( Pro 1:7, 9:10 ; Job 28:28 ; Ps 111 :10) and wisdom is to depart from evil, listen to God’s Word and obey His Word . Genuine Fear of the Lord causes a person to depart from evil and he/s will have willingness to submit themself to God and please Him by their lives.
The fear of the lord is described as the ‘discipline’ also ( Pro 15:33)
. Reverence of God helps us to take Him and His Word seriously. The positive fear of the lord helps us to have a proper relationship with God and motivate us to become more like Christ. It includes the fear of consequences of disobedience also. It is an awareness that helps us to remember that He will hold us accountable for our motives, thoughts , words and actions.
To fear God is the key to a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge (Is 33:6). When we have fear of the lord in our heart then only we can make ourself alert from doing wrong things , and it will help us to do only right things. It helps us to know what we should do and what we shouldnot in our life. By meditating God’s Word in our heart , we will be able to Fear Him and do wise things in our life. The main thing is it helps us to realize the consequences for not obeying His Word. So , we must chose to walk in the Fear of the Lord, beacause it is our submission and respect to God.
Shasi Kala Gurung