“Why does God want us to fear Him?”
“I thought we’re supposed to love Him, not fear Him.”
“Does God really love us?”

Those are questions we often wrestle with as Christians and they’re perfectly normal.

They are worth asking because understanding the fear of the Lord changes the way we see everything else we fear in life.

Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

But what does that mean? And how does it fit with loving God who is gracious and kind?

The truth is, most of the time, we fear the wrong things.

What Our Fears Reveal

When we fear something other than God, we’re really fearing the loss of something we value deeply.

Everybody fears something in life; none of us is immune.

When we fear death, we fear losing our precious lives.
When we fear being poor, we fear losing our wealth, comfort and luxuries.
When we fear being sick, we fear losing our health.
When we fear being old, we fear losing our beauty and fitness.

Ultimately, our fears reveal what we treasure the most, and in doing so, they reveal the idols of our hearts.

Our hearts were made to worship, but they so easily attach themselves to the wrong things.

If we worship money, we’ll fear being poor.
If we worship beauty, we’ll fear growing old.
If we worship our family, we’ll fear losing them.

In other words, what we fear the most often shows what we worship the most.

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” Matthew 6:21

Reclaiming the Right Fear

So how do we overcome misplaced fear?

We start by remembering that everything we have, our wealth, our health, our intellect, our families, all belong to God. We are only stewards, not owners.

God lends us these blessings for a time, but they were never meant to be the source of our security or identity.

When we understand this truth, we begin to loosen our grip on earthly things. We stop idolising what is temporary, and we start trusting the One who is eternal.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above.” James 1:17

What It Means to Fear the Lord

When the Bible speaks of ‘fear,’ it’s not about being scared of God, but about reverent awe, recognising His holiness, power, and love.

Fear of the Lord is worshipping and praising Him because He’s a personal, loving God who created us in His image.

The fear of the Lord is not about being terrified of God.

It’s about standing in awe of Him, recognising His holiness, sovereignty, power, and love.
It’s worshipping and honouring Him as the Creator who made us in His image.
It’s treasuring the work of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to pay for our sins.
It’s understanding that our lives are not our own and joyfully surrendering them to Him.

To fear God is to keep Him first in our hearts. It’s to love Him so deeply that we never want to grieve Him.

When we fear the Lord rightly, our other fears begin to lose their grip.

We glorify Him not only in our worship, but in our daily work, our choices, and our relationships.

“Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always.” Proverbs 28:14

Prayer

Our Father in Heaven, thank you for reminding us that our fear reveals what we treasure the most. Forgive our sins and teach us to fear You rightly, not in dread, but in awe, love, and joyful surrender. For that is where true wisdom begins. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.