What exactly is the fear of the Lord? Is it like the fear we experienced as a child being afraid of the dark, or being afraid of spiders? Or is this fear different?

In an effort to clarify some common misnomers on the subject, I am sharing the small portion of the revelations the Lord has revealed to me.

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Proverbs 4:7

This is a topic I have now been studying for about a month. I myself wanted to have a better understanding of what the ‘Fear of the Lord’ truly is. Even as I write, the Holy Spirit gently reminds me of the scriptures which convey his heart on the subject: “Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”Phil. 2:10-11

So what are the differences between the types of “fears” we encounter as believers next to the “Fear of the Lord?”

Fearing the Lord isn’t being AFRAID of him, rather it is being in AWE of him and having a deep respect/reverence for who He is and what He has done in our lives.

It’s the fear of the Lord that drives us to be obedient to follow His commands but not because we are afraid of Him but because we love Him.

Proverbs 1:7 (NLT) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of true knowledge but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

God gave King Solomon so much wisdom and out of it we received the book of Proverbs. verses 1-7 say: The purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help people understand the insights of the wise. to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. to give insight to the simple, to give knowledge and discernment to the young. then comes the verse I mentioned above. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of true knowledge but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Another verse that explains what the fear of the lord is:

Proverbs 8:13 (ESV) The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

The fear of the Lord is to have wisdom and discipline and to hate evil. To put off pride and arrogance and to be careful of our speech. It is also not to feed the destruction of our flesh, but to allow us to be built up by the spirit.

When the fear of the Lord is present in a persons life, they carefully consider what is Right and desire to walk in obedience to Him, and also considering how to submit to one another.

“The fear of the lord is to submit to one another and to live in unity as one Ephesians 5:21

The fear of the Lord is to live in holiness, righteousness, and truth. To live in humility and to be faithful to the little things that the Lord asks us to do.

Proverbs 2:1-6 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understand; yes, if you call our for insight and raise your voice for understanding if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

This is the fear of the Lord. to treasure his Commandments and to Follow him wholeheartedly. To seek wisdom and discipline and to hate the things of the world to turn from evil and to have a deep respect for the things of the Lord. To be willing to go when He says to Go and to stay when he says to stay. To not compromise the Gospel but to spread it to all of creation. To humble ourselves and submit to Him and allow Him to do the work that He wants to do in our lives.

The more we love the Lord, the more we fear disappointing Him and breaking his heart.

Father, please show us areas in our lives which we lack reverence and respect for your Lordship and authority in our lives. Lord, heal every broken place in us which would question your authority, your ways, and your word in our lives. We humbly ask for you to begin the journey of wisdom in our lives by helping us see who we are, and see who You are.