What Does “The Fear Of The Lord” Mean?

Have you ever heard someone say, “I am a God-fearing individual”?  We don’t know about you, but I didn’t really understand what they meant (and not sure if they did either) for a long time.

Some people get this idea that God is someone to be afraid of because some pretty sad and violent things happened in the Old Testament.  This is not true.  Or the extreme case, is other people use the contrast between the Old Testament and the New Testament and they say the Word is inconsistent therefore untrue.  Hogwash!  They do not understand that God is righteous.  The contrast between the Old and the New Testaments is our Messiah, Jesus!  His death and resurrection for you and I made us right before God.  God is our awesome loving Creator, but we have no right to go into His presence, as we are unclean before Him without the work of Jesus on the cross.

So what is this fear of the Lord that we are talking about here?  If you look at Proverbs 8:13, you’ll see exactly what the fear of the Lord is.  Plain and simple, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil and anything associated with it.  Do you hate evil?  Most people would say, “Sure, of course”.

What exactly does it mean to hate evil? 

Hating evil is to hate anything wrong or unjust.  For example, if someone starts talking bad about someone else at church, the office, or school, you say “I would prefer not to talk about those things.”  If you see someone starting to steal from the company, you discreetly talk to either them or even the management.  Or if you are surfing the internet and you are tempted to look at some unclean websites, to hate evil is to say “No way, I refuse to look at those things. I refuse to even thing about them”.

For others, to hate evil was to get our mouth under control and make sure only things that are good, right, pure, and just came out of my mouth.   Many people become like little demons when they drive, even some Christians.  You cannot do something different while you are in your car, just because you think people won’t know you.

You can never expect God to show up at your church if you are not fearing Him and honoring Him.  We must honor God.  We must fear Him and do the things that honor His Name.

Are you honoring God?  Do you fear Him?  To fear God is to hate evil.  Every day you have a chance to prove it.  Start today.

Do you know Jesus?  Here’s how.  Have you got the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?  This is a must you can see more here.

___________________________

Thanks for reading FaithPro!  You are here because you want to know the truth, and the truth of the Word will set you free!  Don’t keep the freedom to yourself!  Share with others via the buttons below.  One Word from God can change someone’s life forever.  Jesus is Lord!