Fear of The Lord

When I searched on google 'what fear of the Lord means', it showed me what other people have searched that are similar questions. One of those search queries was "how can I overcome the fear of the Lord?"

Now, this search could mean a couple things. It could mean that people no longer want to have a fear of the Lord. It could also mean that people are actually scared of Father and therefore don't understand His sweet, tender, and perfect love for them.

Both of these principles left me feeling sad.

What is fear of the Lord? According to this article on GotQuestions.org, the believer’s fear is the reverence of God. It's having and showing honor, respect, and reverential fear.

Why would we want to have this fear of the Lord? Well, because He is God; I am not, you're not God, no human being is worthy of praise. He's the Creator of the entire universe, every human, every animal, every drop of water, every tree - everything.

He's the Potter - we are His clay. Read Jeremiah 18 for more about this...

What Fear of the Lord does not mean is to be afraid of God, He's not a big mean kid with a magnifying glass trying to kill ants on a hot summer day. I know people who see God this way, which would explain the google search question.

If you're someone who sees God as a big bully in the sky, read my blog post about how much He loves you - I go into detail about what being Loved by God even means and what it looks like. I also made a video about this subject. Watch it here.

Okay, so how do we practically live out fear of the Lord? We love God and we love others. We stay close to the Lord via the Holy Spirit, reading and studying His word, Worshipping, obeying His will, and giving up sin in His name. We love others by forgiving them when they hurt us, we serve them, we honor their name, we share the Truth of the gospel with them, and more.

Who does the fear of the Lord affect? It affects everyone! If you have reverence for the Lord, then you're following His will for you. If you don't respect God as the Author and Finisher of your faith then you'll likely end up in Hell. Harsh, yet true.

How do we know if we have this reverential fear of the Lord? It comes from our spirit, and we feel it deep down inside of hearts. Sometimes this feeling is physical, oftentimes it's emotional, and it brings a spiritual peace that can often be difficult to explain with words.

Lastly, as Proverbs 1:7 explains, The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. If you don't love Yahweh and see Him as your Lord, you don't have knowledge. Another way to put it: you're spiritually stupid.

Be smart; Know God.