Good Fear
A question was asked of me: Are there any good fears? Immediately, I knew the answer. Yes!
I’ve posted a blog titled Live Free of Fear which discusses how fear can lose its place within us, but this question of good fear deserves a response for all to read as well. In general and in the context of this blog, good fear is to have an extremely high respect for someone. Specifically, it is to revere God.
We Are Self-Important
There are many benefits to living in this day and age, especially in the United States. Many comforts are available. We’re free to be who we want to be and do what we want to do. It’s interesting to me that, along with the luxuries, arrogance is powerfully present.
The more we have, the more we feel we deserve. The higher we achieve, the poorer we treat those we determine as less worthy. There is no reverence within to offer anyone or anything.
It’s as if money, prestige, and wealth are the hierarchy of human existence and they have become the powers we answer to, yet they have brought us to a point of self-importance and wrongful superiority.
We Simply Don’t Fear God
In our blessings, we’re losing sight of one another as created beings. We forget that we’re all people trying to make it through, day to day. We’re failing to respect each other, let alone lift one another up. However, this observation needs to go a step deeper. Our poor behavior all stems from a lack of reverence in the proper direction.
In our enjoyment of present day living, we have become our own gods. Simply put, we don’t fear the Lord. We act as though we are the creator rather than the created, as though we deserve what we’ve achieved. We act like God had nothing to do with our accomplishments, and in our disregard, have grown cold to reverence.
Come Close to God
I don’t want you to try, in your own power, to be kind to others, to appreciate what you’ve been blessed with, or to even thank God who has blessed you. I want you to come close to Him. Look to Him, focus on Him, talk to Him, get to know Him, and grow in relationship with Him.
See Through God’s Eyes
When we are close to our Maker, when He becomes the center of our world, we can’t help but to experience awe in Who He is and what He’s doing in and for our lives. When God sends His Holy Spirit to live within us, His qualities fill us to overflowing, bringing us to our knees in worship of His might and love. We revere Him so deeply that it becomes a part of our very being.
This relationship with God leads us to gain a respect for those He has also created. We see through His eyes and have compassion on others and their circumstances, and through His heart, we offer unconditional love and kindness.
God, Open Our Eyes to You
I pray that God opens our eyes and ears, not so that we live in fear of failure, but so that we can embrace fear, reverence, for Him, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, sea and sky, and the Creator of each one of us.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to share and encourage others. How do you feel about the fear (reverence) of God? Do you have additional observations? Comment down below.
God’s peace,
Rebecca