Fear Of God And Love Of God

Many people have a problem with the idea of the fear of God. They think that you should love God. It appears that we are called upon to do both.

What does it mean to fear God? It means that you don't want to make God angry at you. You do not want God's anger. For an omnipotent being to be angry at you can be quite a problem. So it is important not to provoke God's wrath.

That, is the meaning of the fear of God.

Is it compatible with loving God? Absolutely it is. There is no reason at all why one should not love and revere at the same time. The love part in this means, among other things, that you do not want God to be unhappy with you. You love God and you want to make Him happy. It breaks your heart when God is unhappy with you. So you do what you need to do to make God happy.

Together, fearing God and loving God stand to lead toward righteous conduct. Fear means that you don't want God to be angry at you, and love means that you don't want God to be unhappy with you. Different people are motivated by different things and at different times in their lives. The people who are motivated by self-interest are most lead to righteous conduct through fear of God, and the people who are motivated by love are lead most to righteous conduct through love of God. There is a large place for both fear of God and love of God. So it is rightful that people both fear God and love God.