By Sidharth Mohandas
So the church throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being edified; and, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was multiplied. [Acts 9:31]
If there’s anything the Church lacks today, it is the fear of the Lord. In our day this word has lost its meaning, because most Christians have a distorted knowledge about the love of God. They think love excludes discipline and rebuke. However, Jesus Himself said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” [Revelations 3:19] If we Christians would walk in the fear of the Lord, I believe we could impact the world to a greater extent.
How do we fear the Lord?
In simple words, the Bible tells us that “the fear of the LORD is to hate evil.” [Proverbs 8:13]. But here’s something more specific:
Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. [Psalm 34:11-14]
The first area that the fear of the Lord affects us is our speech…“keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies”. We may use words flippantly but God takes what we say very seriously. He will hold us accountable for every idle word spoken. Do you think you and I can come before the Judgment Seat of Christ say, “But I was depressed and frustrated!”, “I didn’t know it was so real!”…?
Second most important area that the fear of the Lord will affect is our relationships. David says, “seek peace and pursue it”. I come across so many Christians who harbor unforgiveness and bitterness towards others, and they live in a false state of assurance that God has overlooked it. God wants us to strive to keep away any thing that will disrupt the peace between us and our brethren.
Do we take God and all that He has said serious? Or are we deluding ourselves into thinking that all our actions will go unnoticed? Dear friends, we need to remind ourselves that we will have to be accountable for every word and action of ours before the Judge of the Universe. Let us live lives that respect and revere God in everything we say or do.
“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…”
No peace without forgiving others…and accepting the Lord’s forgiveness for ourselves!
God has been teaching me about this here lately. It clears up all kinds of “wrong fears” for me if I revere and stand in awe of God instead of my problems. Very good post!
whew – Sidharth, you are right on point about that. Here in the US (and I’m sure in many other western & well-off nations, there is a sense of entitlement and worse, parents raised their children to be proud and fear nothing. While that seems like a great idea, I’ve grown up to do foolish things because of my lack of fear and respect.
It’s a scary prayer to ask the Lord to teach us a reverential fear of him, but I’m sure it would change my entire perspective on life. Thanks for keeping it real.
“The fear of the Lord” is so crucial but so misunderstood because so many live in the fear of Him, the dread of Him. If we can share the meaning of this term “the fear of the Lord” and convey the respect, the reverence and the awe we should have of Him, then we can fear Him properly- and yet be not afraid or terrorized.