A Healthy Fear

A healthy fear of the Lord is something that all of us need to have but just what does a healthy fear of the Lord mean? Certainly, God doesn’t want us to be afraid of Him in the sense that we are scared that if we sin He will disown us. No, the Bible says that God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives and that He will never leave us or forsake us. I believe that a healthy fear of God means that we have a reverential awe of just who He is. This type of fear can be seen in several verses of Scripture.

Job 28:28

“And he said to the human race, ‘The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.’”

In this verse we see that the fear of the Lord is equated with true wisdom. When you have a reverential fear of God you treat Him with the highest respect for who He is – the Creator of the universe! When you fear God in this way He will bless you with wisdom to follow in His ways. This will automatically help us to shun evil and live a godly life.

Exodus 20:20

“And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.’”

When the Bible says that we are to have the “fear of the Lord,” always before us, it means that we should have a deep respect, reverence, and holy awe for our heavenly Father at all times. A proper “fear of the Lord” should cause us to love God more and be afraid of Him less. Notice in this fascinating verse from Exodus in the first use of the word fear Moses is telling God’s people not to be afraid of God. But in the second use of the word fear, Moses tells the Israelites to fear God. God loves us and wants to build an intimate relationship with us. And just as He showers His love on us He wants us to show our love for Him – and the way we do this is to respect, reverence, and hold Him in awe; or to fear Him.

Proverbs 16:6

“In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord, one departs from evil.”

You see Jesus wants us to always do the right thing and not sin. And the best way not to sin is to have so much respect, awe, and love for Him that we would never want to displease Him or bring reproach to His name. I have found in my own life that the more I reflect on just how wonderful Jesus is, that I desire to want to please Him in everything I do. This positive way of viewing the fear of the Lord is so healthy and is the best way to live our lives – always striving to please Jesus and bring Him glory.

God is looking for the attitude of our hearts and the best way I can phrase reverential fear is for us to have a wholesome dread of displeasing Him. We should always have an attitude of respect and a response of reverence toward God in everything we do. This constant state of being in fear of God is the key to enjoying a blessed life here on earth. And the more you fall in love with Jesus, the more reverence you will have for Him, and the less you will want to do anything that displeases Him.

Ecclesiastes 12:13

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

You mean to say we are commanded to fear God? Yes, we are, and since God is a loving God this type of fear must be a good thing since God always desires to bless His children.

And while our motivation shouldn’t be to get a blessing by living a life of reverence to God, the reality is when we do properly fear the Lord, God promises to rain down His blessings on us. God wants us to obey Him not because He is on an ego trip, but when we do, we unlock a myriad of blessings in our lives. Some of the blessings include: gaining wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. In addition, we can prolong our lives and live with confidence. And we can obtain peace and joy as we journey through life.

The more you reverence Jesus and fall in love with Him, the less you will want to sin and displease Him. Holy awe has a wonderful way of stopping sin in its tracks. And this type of healthy reverential fear is also the key to living a life that brings glory to God. I can think of no higher privilege than to bring Him glory – and reverential fear and awe will motivate us to do just that!