Fear of God is a constant awareness that God exists and is everywhere and can do anything.
There have been great men who lapsed in their fear of God to great consequence. Moses could not enter the promised land after leading the people for 40 years because of his lapse. David's baby died because of his lapse.
Yes God loves every person and wants every person to come to salvation through Jesus, but part of that love is discipline when we fall astray. It's just like how a loving parent will discipline their child when the child does wrong. It's just in this case God's discipline comes from a place of omnipotence.
But then it's more about respect than fear, no? I don't want my children to fear me when they do wrong, I want them to come to me and to learn from the mistake they made. I think that God would see it this way as well.
It's the fear of consequences for your wrong actions. It's not your children fearing you, it's not you fearing God himself, but it's the fear of not having the life you want due to wrong decisions. That fear keeps you on the right path. It's kinda odd to say you have respect for that path, or that it is just respect for God, maybe you do, but how does that lead you anywhere? I can respect someone and not care one bit about what they say to me or do.
It's not fear, it's faith that keeps me on the right path. I've done many, many, many things wrong in my life. Many fucking things. With 14, on my confirmation, my saying was Psalm 23. I chose this by myself, I said it in the church, and God listened. My life then went totally nuts, drugs, lies, theft, ignorance, what not. I was never violent, never killed or hurt people physically, but I did many strange things.
Instead of punishing me, God decided otherwise. He led me on a path I'd never had chosen on my own, ending up in a marriage and two beautiful children and a life full of love. But between 14 and 40 I did so many things wrong, it's a wonder I'm still alive. There were milestones layed down in this period of time that only paid out later in my life.
With 14 I said "The Lord is my Shepherd", and then the Lord sent me on a very strange journey. I've been strange before 14ys, but that was the time the Lord decided to take control.
Now that I'm settled, with 51ys old finally, I found back to the Lord, recognizing that he led me to where I am. And what I don't do is fear him I love him, I praise him, I enjoy the spirit of Jesus, I live a life of faith and love. I have bad moments, yes, but I don't fear. Nothing, not even the Lord. Because I do no wrong willingly. I made mistakes, I make mistakes, but the Lord guides me, and he forgives me, because he made me. I'm his child, and children act weired from time to time.
You only have to fear God, when you worship Satan. Only when your wrongdoing is intentional. When you refuse God. When you enjoy evil. Otherwise, just love him and let him guide you.
That's my take, I may be wrong, but I think I'm not.
Fear is the fear of His wrath for denouncing His wants by our actions.
The fear of God is an Old Testament concept as where the unconditional love of God is through Christ’s sacrifice.
This. God does hit us up side the head. I told my son once "your angels must really love you," because he always got caught and paid a price for acting against his better self. Same thing with Trump, and he got sent to military school. Fear God.
You display unassailable virtue. I congratulate you. I am not so blessed. I am just an unimportant sinner who thinks it's a good idea to pay attention to Biblical warning about fearing God.
The effects of pleasing or displeasing God are seldom immediate. They can take a very long time. But they can be extremely powerful.
Most things we fear, its because we can see their effects quickly and clearly. Do you fear gravity? Fire? Of course, we all do.
Fear of God is the desire to learn the rules of an unseen force, so that it will never negatively affect your life. Disrespecting gravity or fire can ruin your life, but disrespecting God can ruin your soul. And conversely, fearing God can completely make you, in this life and beyond. If you fear God well, you need not fear any other thing.
..as a side note, I'm not sure which is funnier to me: Christians who don't believe the Bible, or atheists who cite the teachings of Jesus.
Ecclesiastes 8:12-13:
"Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God."
It did and it didn't. It's easy for me to understand someone's words, not so much their meaning.
For example:
Do you fear gravity? Fire? Of course, we all do.
I think I understand what you mean, but I struggle because I don't actually fear those things. I love fire, but I respect its power.
I also love gravity, because without it I wouldn't have been able to learn how to skydive :) but I have respect for the dangers it can present and take heed to plan accordingly and not dismiss those risks (lack of respect).
I know that other people fear those things, but I don't. So in a way I understand what you mean, but I don't really because it's not how I experience the world.
Sin is separation from God. We currently see what separation looks like. If the choices are heaven, or this, should you not fear? Fear is a great motivator…
Now, if you are on the right path, then you should be at peace. The trick is, there are many ways that seem right to a man, but the end of them is death.
It is important to keep that piece of fear in order to remain humble, and not become convinced of self righteousness. It is so, so easy to slip into thinking that the righteousness comes from us and not God.
Humility is something I have been working on for a long time, one of my main life lessons you could say.
I don't want to be humble because I'm frightened of what will happen to me though, I want to be humble because that's what I learnt from Jesus - that it's the right way to be.
Having made 'some' progress, I see the wisdom of it.
Just like love, I believe fear is a translated word. God made us to worship Him. Christ came to die for our sins so that we can be forgiven. It's not hard, yet so many can't do it. They are scared of being ostracised.
I've never really understood why we should fear God. Respect, Love, absolutely - but fear?
It doesn't tally with my experience to be honest, so I have a hard time understanding it.
Now, if I was to go off the reservation and set myself against God & Jesus, then yes, I could imagine being fearful, but that isn't happening.
The fear of God is reverence for God, and the fear of offending his holiness.
This ☝️ Also awe and respect. "Take off your shoes for this is holy ground."
Well said
I have offended, and it wasn't fear I felt, it was shame.
Shame is a much stronger motivator for me than fear, as I don't really seem to experience fear the way other people do. Not sure why.
Fear of God is a constant awareness that God exists and is everywhere and can do anything.
There have been great men who lapsed in their fear of God to great consequence. Moses could not enter the promised land after leading the people for 40 years because of his lapse. David's baby died because of his lapse.
Yes God loves every person and wants every person to come to salvation through Jesus, but part of that love is discipline when we fall astray. It's just like how a loving parent will discipline their child when the child does wrong. It's just in this case God's discipline comes from a place of omnipotence.
But then it's more about respect than fear, no? I don't want my children to fear me when they do wrong, I want them to come to me and to learn from the mistake they made. I think that God would see it this way as well.
It's the fear of consequences for your wrong actions. It's not your children fearing you, it's not you fearing God himself, but it's the fear of not having the life you want due to wrong decisions. That fear keeps you on the right path. It's kinda odd to say you have respect for that path, or that it is just respect for God, maybe you do, but how does that lead you anywhere? I can respect someone and not care one bit about what they say to me or do.
It's not fear, it's faith that keeps me on the right path. I've done many, many, many things wrong in my life. Many fucking things. With 14, on my confirmation, my saying was Psalm 23. I chose this by myself, I said it in the church, and God listened. My life then went totally nuts, drugs, lies, theft, ignorance, what not. I was never violent, never killed or hurt people physically, but I did many strange things.
Instead of punishing me, God decided otherwise. He led me on a path I'd never had chosen on my own, ending up in a marriage and two beautiful children and a life full of love. But between 14 and 40 I did so many things wrong, it's a wonder I'm still alive. There were milestones layed down in this period of time that only paid out later in my life.
With 14 I said "The Lord is my Shepherd", and then the Lord sent me on a very strange journey. I've been strange before 14ys, but that was the time the Lord decided to take control.
Now that I'm settled, with 51ys old finally, I found back to the Lord, recognizing that he led me to where I am. And what I don't do is fear him I love him, I praise him, I enjoy the spirit of Jesus, I live a life of faith and love. I have bad moments, yes, but I don't fear. Nothing, not even the Lord. Because I do no wrong willingly. I made mistakes, I make mistakes, but the Lord guides me, and he forgives me, because he made me. I'm his child, and children act weired from time to time.
You only have to fear God, when you worship Satan. Only when your wrongdoing is intentional. When you refuse God. When you enjoy evil. Otherwise, just love him and let him guide you.
That's my take, I may be wrong, but I think I'm not.
Fear is the fear of His wrath for denouncing His wants by our actions. The fear of God is an Old Testament concept as where the unconditional love of God is through Christ’s sacrifice.
This. God does hit us up side the head. I told my son once "your angels must really love you," because he always got caught and paid a price for acting against his better self. Same thing with Trump, and he got sent to military school. Fear God.
Whenever I've been given an opportunity to learn from my mistakes, I'm not fearful, I'm grateful.
You display unassailable virtue. I congratulate you. I am not so blessed. I am just an unimportant sinner who thinks it's a good idea to pay attention to Biblical warning about fearing God.
I think I must have a different understanding of fear then.
I've read some of the responses on here and the ones about reverence make sense - it's not a use of the word I was familiar with.
I'm not someone who experiences fear the way other people seem to, so maybe my understanding is biased by that.
The effects of pleasing or displeasing God are seldom immediate. They can take a very long time. But they can be extremely powerful.
Most things we fear, its because we can see their effects quickly and clearly. Do you fear gravity? Fire? Of course, we all do.
Fear of God is the desire to learn the rules of an unseen force, so that it will never negatively affect your life. Disrespecting gravity or fire can ruin your life, but disrespecting God can ruin your soul. And conversely, fearing God can completely make you, in this life and beyond. If you fear God well, you need not fear any other thing.
..as a side note, I'm not sure which is funnier to me: Christians who don't believe the Bible, or atheists who cite the teachings of Jesus.
Ecclesiastes 8:12-13:
"Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God."
It's not that I don't believe the Bible, I don't understand the Bible.
However, I have contact with Jesus and he teaches me what I need to know without all the confusion - and that's good enough for me.
great answer. i hope my explanation made sense to you
It did and it didn't. It's easy for me to understand someone's words, not so much their meaning.
For example:
I think I understand what you mean, but I struggle because I don't actually fear those things. I love fire, but I respect its power.
I also love gravity, because without it I wouldn't have been able to learn how to skydive :) but I have respect for the dangers it can present and take heed to plan accordingly and not dismiss those risks (lack of respect).
I know that other people fear those things, but I don't. So in a way I understand what you mean, but I don't really because it's not how I experience the world.
Not sure that makes any sense, ah well :)
Sin is separation from God. We currently see what separation looks like. If the choices are heaven, or this, should you not fear? Fear is a great motivator…
Now, if you are on the right path, then you should be at peace. The trick is, there are many ways that seem right to a man, but the end of them is death.
It is important to keep that piece of fear in order to remain humble, and not become convinced of self righteousness. It is so, so easy to slip into thinking that the righteousness comes from us and not God.
Humility is something I have been working on for a long time, one of my main life lessons you could say.
I don't want to be humble because I'm frightened of what will happen to me though, I want to be humble because that's what I learnt from Jesus - that it's the right way to be.
Having made 'some' progress, I see the wisdom of it.
Just like love, I believe fear is a translated word. God made us to worship Him. Christ came to die for our sins so that we can be forgiven. It's not hard, yet so many can't do it. They are scared of being ostracised.