1
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Psalm 103:17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—
For those of you who have been raised up in a church like I have, you can immediately recognize that the fear talked about in these two different verses are completely different. The first, is the fear that everyone gets, whether a lot or once in a while. Everyone has something they're afraid of. Whether it be a fear of something going wrong in a relationship, a fear of someone dying, a fear of being fired, or a simple fear like a fear of making someone mad, or a fear of a small quiz coming up tomorrow.
Now, the second fear has always been slightly confusing to me. I always had a general sense of what it meant, but no one ever clarified it for me. I was never told what the word meant, just what it "is",... sort of.
Well, let's go to a clarifying source. The online Merriam-Webster dictionary.
The third result was this: (to have a reverential awe of)
Another result I had found in a different dictionary was, "a reverential respect to one in power or authority."
As you can see, reverence is pretty much what fear is. If you're not sure what reverence is, here's the definition, taken from the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
(Reverence ~ honor or respect felt or shown : deference; especially : profound adoring awed respect)
[h=3]1 John 4:18[/h]King James Version (KJV)
[SUP]18 [/SUP]There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
And God means every fear! From big to small. From whether you can pay your bills, to injuring your back, and to a simple, normal fear of trying to keep from cutting yourself when you're preparing a meal.
For me, my biggest fear is going to take a while. It's not hard for me to put up a wall around my fear and act all brave to the point where I don't feel it. But the issue is, my fear is still there. Only God can take my fear away.
Thing is, I have to let him. But why don't I let him take my fear away? Because deep down, most of the time unconsciously, I believe there is some sort of pay off if I keep my fear. Don't you agree? Usually the pay off is, you feel like you're the one in control. I don't know about you, but when I'm afraid, I want to find any way possible to control the situation.
This is where the other fear comes in. If we have profound, adoring, awed respect towards God and his authority, we won't be in the wrong kind of fear.
[h=3]Psalm 111:10[/h]King James Version (KJV)
[SUP]10 [/SUP]The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Psalm 103:17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—
For those of you who have been raised up in a church like I have, you can immediately recognize that the fear talked about in these two different verses are completely different. The first, is the fear that everyone gets, whether a lot or once in a while. Everyone has something they're afraid of. Whether it be a fear of something going wrong in a relationship, a fear of someone dying, a fear of being fired, or a simple fear like a fear of making someone mad, or a fear of a small quiz coming up tomorrow.
Now, the second fear has always been slightly confusing to me. I always had a general sense of what it meant, but no one ever clarified it for me. I was never told what the word meant, just what it "is",... sort of.
Well, let's go to a clarifying source. The online Merriam-Webster dictionary.
The third result was this: (to have a reverential awe of)
Another result I had found in a different dictionary was, "a reverential respect to one in power or authority."
As you can see, reverence is pretty much what fear is. If you're not sure what reverence is, here's the definition, taken from the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
(Reverence ~ honor or respect felt or shown : deference; especially : profound adoring awed respect)
[h=3]1 John 4:18[/h]King James Version (KJV)
[SUP]18 [/SUP]There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
And God means every fear! From big to small. From whether you can pay your bills, to injuring your back, and to a simple, normal fear of trying to keep from cutting yourself when you're preparing a meal.
For me, my biggest fear is going to take a while. It's not hard for me to put up a wall around my fear and act all brave to the point where I don't feel it. But the issue is, my fear is still there. Only God can take my fear away.
Thing is, I have to let him. But why don't I let him take my fear away? Because deep down, most of the time unconsciously, I believe there is some sort of pay off if I keep my fear. Don't you agree? Usually the pay off is, you feel like you're the one in control. I don't know about you, but when I'm afraid, I want to find any way possible to control the situation.
This is where the other fear comes in. If we have profound, adoring, awed respect towards God and his authority, we won't be in the wrong kind of fear.
[h=3]Psalm 111:10[/h]King James Version (KJV)
[SUP]10 [/SUP]The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.