Words that Inspire

The Fear of God seems to be a scarce commodity these days. There is an epidemic of so called prophets issuing prophecies in God’s name, when God has not spoken. Pastors and preachers pop up everywhere with new churches, offering salvation and divine solutions in exchange for money in the form of ‘seed offerings’. This is not to say that ‘seed offerings’ are inherently wrong. When prompted by the Holy Spirit and led by God, it is a good thing. Even among the Church congregations, the attitude towards God is lackadaisical. Men and women saunter in wearing less than decent clothing and the conversations are not healthy let alone Godly. Where has the fear of God gone?

What does it mean to fear God?

To fear God is to reverence and respect Him. When we meet people who are in authority, like CEOs, presidents, pastors, etc, whether we like them or not, there is a certain respect we give them. For example, we do not browse our phone when they are speaking to us, we dress appropriately, we do not litter the space where we are meeting with them, side conversations with others are kept to a bare minimum, and in the presence of the dignitary we try to avoid doing anything that would displease them. In today’s Church, a lot of this lacking. Please note that when I say Church, I do not mean the physical building where we gather to worship, but Christians in general – the body of Christ. Any form of disrespect that is intolerable against our fellow humans should be intolerable before God. In fact, we should hold God to a higher level of respect that fellow humans.

Fear God

To fear God is to hold him in high regard. If we believe that God is everywhere and always with us, then we should always be conscious of how we live and interact with others. We should ask for forgiveness when we have erred and strive hard not to return to those habits. In His sanctuary, let us revere his presence  and dress appropriately, as well as keep it clean. 

Does this mean we should be terrified of God? No! Think of it this way. With your earthly father, you respect him and obey him, but that does not stop you from making mistakes or complaining to him about something or requesting something. It is the same way with God. Fearing God should not invoke terror, but high level respect. Do not forget that the fear of the Lord invites a lot of things, including wisdom (Proverbs 1:7).