What does fear of the Lord mean to you?

[PlentyGroovy]

Wisdom begins with fear of the Lord.

I'm not sure how to interpret this, when I think of fear of the Lord, it's with doing something that grieves Him that hurts His heart. I don't fear that He is going to send a bolt of lightening, although He could but I don't have any fear that He will. I didn't come to the Lord out of fear but out of love. I don't respect the Lord out of fear but I respect Him out of love....

Am I missing a point somewhere????:confused

I associate fear with being scared, and I just don't feel scared of God.

[sracer]

Wisdom begins with fear of the Lord.

I'm not sure how to interpret this, when I think of fear of the Lord, it's with doing something that grieves Him that hurts His heart. I don't fear that He is going to send a bolt of lightening, although He could but I don't have any fear that He will. I didn't come to the Lord out of fear but out of love. I don't respect the Lord out of fear but I respect Him out of love....

Am I missing a point somewhere????:confused

I associate fear with being scared, and I just don't feel scared of God.
The meaning of "fear" in the Bible is not "being scared" but "respect, reverence, knowing that God is omnipotent and can do anything".

[B A N E]

IMO, it should be abject terror!

Even John who rested upon Christ when brought into His glorified
presence fell as dead.

Isaiah, "I am undone!"

To fear the Lord is to have terror of Him and His judgment.

How can that be reconciled with our relationship with Him?
"for there is now no condemnation for those in Christ"
"we love Him because He first loved us"

He is a consuming fire!
We should be afraid of Him.
When we are under judgment.

Afterwards, after being saved?
I don't believe that fear should ever be forgotten.

But like a small child will run to their father (regardless of station in life),
we too call out "Abba".

Without the terror of Him, we don't really appreciate the judgment and
we don't appreciate fully the pardon given to us.

Once we were objects of wrath. (terror)
Now we are adopted children. (respect)

The fear changes as we are changed.

edit to add: Remember what the verse says,
"is the beginning" (emph.mine)

[Man4Jesus]

I love him and fear him like a father. I am close to him out of love but there is also that part of me that knows he has the power to open a can at any time. So should he choose. :hail :fear

[waslostnowfound]

In my opinion it is as B A N E said, to have fear of His judgement, but also once in class we were looking up french words in a french english dictionary (our teacher assigned this to us) and there was a word...I can't rmember what, but the dictionary said it meant fear, but our teacher was trying to tell us it's like fear but it's not. The example she used was like a stove. You're not afraid of it, but it's kind of like a respect. You respect the stove, you don't play with it and you don't put your hand on it lol. You're not afraid of it, but you know the consequence and you're afraid of what is possible.

I think fear of the Lord is something like that.

[UNeverEverNo]

Like when you're sixteen-years-old and your dad tells you to have the car home by 11.

[waslostnowfound]

Like when you're sixteen-years-old and your dad tells you to have the car home by 11.

:laugh :lol :thumb lol I like that :D:

[bopeep1909]

respect,reverence.<><

[like2opr8]

I love him and fear him like a father. I am close to him out of love but there is also that part of me that knows he has the power to open a can at any time. So should he choose. :hail :fear

That's how I think of it as well.

[sracer]

In my opinion it is as B A N E said, to have fear of His judgement, but also once in class we were looking up french words in a french english dictionary (our teacher assigned this to us) and there was a word...I can't rmember what, but the dictionary said it meant fear, but our teacher was trying to tell us it's like fear but it's not. The example she used was like a stove. You're not afraid of it, but it's kind of like a respect. You respect the stove, you don't play with it and you don't put your hand on it lol. You're not afraid of it, but you know the consequence and you're afraid of what is possible.

I think fear of the Lord is something like that.

Interesting. I think there is a fine line between "fear - afraid of His judgment" and "fear - respecting His omnipotence". And in your example, consequences = judgment.

Being afraid of His judgment focuses on only one aspect of His omnipotence. God doesn't want us to be afraid of Him. As a father, I don't want my children to be afraid of me... I want them to respect me for who I am, not what I might do to them if they don't.

I'll go further and say that my previous definition of Godly fear, "respect, reverence, knowing that God is omnipotent and can do anything" is too limited.

My new definition of fear is "respect and reverence because of who God is." period. Look at His attributes: Love, Grace, Mercy, Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence, Uniqueness, Eternal, Just, and Righteous. He is to be "feared" for any and all of those reasons.... not simply because He will judge. (though that is certainly reason enough)

[SonsofGod]

Wisdom begins with fear of the Lord.

I'm not sure how to interpret this, when I think of fear of the Lord, it's with doing something that grieves Him that hurts His heart. I don't fear that He is going to send a bolt of lightening, although He could but I don't have any fear that He will. I didn't come to the Lord out of fear but out of love. I don't respect the Lord out of fear but I respect Him out of love....

Am I missing a point somewhere????:confused

I associate fear with being scared, and I just don't feel scared of God.

Fear means in Awe of - Awful means full of Awe.
To be in Awe of his Love, Power and Glory.
These terms have obviously been changed from there original meaning.

ie. Gay use to mean happy

[Prodical Son]

I love him and fear him like a father. I am close to him out of love but there is also that part of me that knows he has the power to open a can at any time. So should he choose. :hail :fear
I second that definition. But let me add that i fear disappointing him. Not fulfilling his plans for me, i've wasted so many years. But then i doubt very many will completely fulfill his plan for us, there will probally be work left undone. We are not perfect just forgiven. But we must always strive to do his will and be a witness for him. We are after all 'the light of this world', because the Spirit dwells inside us.

[sracer]

Fear means in Awe of - Awful means full of Awe.
To be in Awe of his Love, Power and Glory.
These terms have obviously been changed from there original meaning.

ie. Gay use to mean happy
Funny how homosexuals hijacked that word for their own use, and then get angry when teens in turn hijack that word for THEIR use (to refer to anything that is dumb, stupid, lame).

Well, I'm not going to take it anymore! I'm taking that word back!

Yippee! I'm happy, I'm gay!!!!! :twitch

...on second thought.... they can keep it. :wacko :lol

[boxer77]

I agree with Bane on the fearing of the Lord, I remember James MacDonald, and David Jeramiha talking about fearing the Lord God, one fo them said that respect is not true interpretation of the the word fearing. Its much more powerful than respect or reverance.
www.walkintheword.com, is were I think that sermon was.

[PlentyGroovy]

I so appreciate all the responses on this thread, I've done lots of thinking on it. I understand from Bane the terror we feel when we think of what the unsaved will go through if they choose to reject Jesus as their savior but we that have embraced Jesus as our Savior don't have to fear for our eternities. Thinking about my little one, she knows I love her unconditional but she fears letting me down or getting into trouble and being chastised. That is a lot like the fear I have of letting God down or refusing to give up a sin, I know that He will bring correction one way or another....but I have less fear because I know He will do it in a loving way to get me on the right track. Fear of the unknown because His ways are so unconventional!!!

There have been times...:redface where I intentionally disobeyed, got myself into trouble and then have the audacity to ask Him to help me get out of the mess I,myself, created. You'd think He'd turn His back but no, He helps me get myself out of trouble. And that's where the fear disinegrates because He loves me unconditionally.

Understanding the horrible consequences of what would of been my destiny without Christ, the fear of what I deserved and came close to ending up with might be the beginning of wisdom that the verse speaks to.:nod

Thanks and hugs to you all!!:):

[Sower]

Interesting. I think there is a fine line between "fear - afraid of His judgment" and "fear - respecting His omnipotence". And in your example, consequences = judgment.

Being afraid of His judgment focuses on only one aspect of His omnipotence. God doesn't want us to be afraid of Him. As a father, I don't want my children to be afraid of me... I want them to respect me for who I am, not what I might do to them if they don't.

I'll go further and say that my previous definition of Godly fear, "respect, reverence, knowing that God is omnipotent and can do anything" is too limited.

My new definition of fear is "respect and reverence because of who God is." period. Look at His attributes: Love, Grace, Mercy, Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence, Uniqueness, Eternal, Just, and Righteous. He is to be "feared" for any and all of those reasons.... not simply because He will judge. (though that is certainly reason enough)

:clap :clap

[azaziah]

Great thread! Reading and musing made me wonder about this:

It seems that fear and love are intertwined in many ways... ways that are difficult for our human reasoning to decipher. On the surface, they seem strikingly different, if not outright contradictory.

But what if fear and love are the output of the same basic 'reverence' or 'awe' that we should properly feel for our Lord? One moment we feel fear... the next love. Always one or the other, but never both at the same time....

Sometimes it is only abject fear that stops us in our tracks before we sin... a proper understanding of the all-consuming power of God makes that fear grow stronger over time. God's love, however, and it's depth, or power, also grows with time and understanding (wisdom).

Sort of a carrot-and-stick thing...

I don't think I 'splained that very well... lol

Maybe I'm off-base?

[Prodical Son]

I so appreciate all the responses on this thread, I've done lots of thinking on it. I understand from Bane the terror we feel when we think of what the unsaved will go through if they choose to reject Jesus as their savior but we that have embraced Jesus as our Savior don't have to fear for our eternities. Thinking about my little one, she knows I love her unconditional but she fears letting me down or getting into trouble and being chastised. That is a lot like the fear I have of letting God down or refusing to give up a sin, I know that He will bring correction one way or another....but I have less fear because I know He will do it in a loving way to get me on the right track. Fear of the unknown because His ways are so unconventional!!!

There have been times...:redface where I intentionally disobeyed, got myself into trouble and then have the audacity to ask Him to help me get out of the mess I,myself, created. You'd think He'd turn His back but no, He helps me get myself out of trouble. And that's where the fear disinegrates because He loves me unconditionally.

Understanding the horrible consequences of what would of been my destiny without Christ, the fear of what I deserved and came close to ending up with might be the beginning of wisdom that the verse speaks to.:nod

Thanks and hugs to you all!!:):


Me too!

[Cricket55]

Wonderful thread. I have often wondered about this myself. Thanks for posting PlentyGroovy.

[Sophie]

I so appreciate all the responses on this thread, I've done lots of thinking on it. I understand from Bane the terror we feel when we think of what the unsaved will go through if they choose to reject Jesus as their savior but we that have embraced Jesus as our Savior don't have to fear for our eternities.

I don't know about the rest of you, but although I am saved, I know I have to "act" as such. Many times I am in "fear" that my actions, (my falls) could very easily take away my saving. The evil entities out there strive for this!:nod

So I "fear" for my salvation daily, I "fear" if I lose this, God will disown me as His child, and I pray that I stay in my walk with the Lord. Although I love my Abba, and I truly do, He has been more of a father to me than my earthly dad, I don't take for granted His forgiveness of my sins, and with each stupid sin committed in the present, you bet your bippy I'm in fear of my God!!

Have you ever watched His mighty work during a storm? And I'm a storm lover!! I appreciate His power and majesty when a storm comes through, but I'm also in fear, because I know of the power He can unleash. As I'm peeled up to the window watching those storms, I'm in awe and feel so blessed to witness His power. I rate the storms like...this one He's just yawning, now this one He made with a big cough, wow, this one He made with a sigh. But I'm always in "fear" of a storm He will make with a yell. :fear

I'm never comfortable or confident enough to think just because I am saved today, there's no need to fear The Holy, Holy, Holy should I become unsaved tomorrow!! Yes, I respect Him, yes I love Him, yes I'm in awe of Him, yet He's like fire to me, where I know I have business getting only so close or I WILL get burned. Remember how God had Moses turn away from him on that mountain as he passed by or else he would have died had he laid eyes on God? HELLO????? I'd fear that, wouldn't you? I'm so lowely, so sinful, so contemptable that I am not fit to even take out God's garbage!! Yup!! You bet!! I am in "Fear" of Him!! That's what I think it means.

Blessings to ALL!