stigma

Okay, so I've been following Christ for at least 12 years and have known a lot about God since childhood, but there is still so much to wrap my brain around when it comes to who He is and how we relate to Him. For a long time I've grappled with the phrase "fear of the Lord" and my understanding of it continues to grow the more I grow in my walk with Him.

There's obviously a stigma attached to fearing the Lord, as if to do so would be to acknowledge Him as this scary vindictive being who wants to dominate us with His power. So in effort to steer clear of this image, I think we've lost the true meaning of the Word. It's almost as if some believers want to jump over the verses that talk about fearing the Lord and move on to more pleasant, comprehensible passages of His Word. I had an epiphany this morning in my devotions and I just have to share it.

"LORD, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord could ever survive?
But you offer forgiveness, that we may learn to fear You." -Psalm 130: 3-4

God's motive behind offering forgiveness is not so that we will take advantage of His grace and use it as a license to sin. His intentions are to teach us to respect and honor Him more, to learn how NOT to contradict Him and His will. His mercy is intended to draw us nearer to His unending love and lovingkindess so that we will reciprocate that love in obedience. His grace is meant to woo us to Himself. The understanding of this grace, and subsequent life of surrender to His will is the essence of fearing Him.

And the cycle continues with:

" . . . the LORD's delight is in those who fear Him, those who put their hope in His unfailing love." - Psalm 147:11

The more we walk in hopeful, trusting, loving fear of Him, the more He delights in us; delights in offering the forgiving grace that spans the distance between us that is sin.

And thus the spiral of drawing nearer to God tightens and quickens like a park slide. The more God loves us and shows us His loving mercy, the more we want to honor and obey Him in love, and then the more He delights in us and in offering us his lovingkindness, and we are won over by His efforts to capture our hearts in devotion.

Sometimes I run out of words to describe how much I adore Him. I'm so thankful that He initiated love first by offering forgiveness through the bloody sacrifice of His Son Jesus on the cross. I still stand amazed that He would go to such great lengths for me. Fearing Him is equated to loving Him; to honoring Him for the power He holds; to desiring to follow His plan and His ways; to doing everything in my power to worship Him alone.