What is ... Fear of The Lord?

[BarbTherese]

http://catholicstraightanswers.com/fear-lord/

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 Excerpt: Primarily, this gift entails a profound respect for the majesty of God who is the supreme being. Here, a person realizes his “creatureliness” and dependency upon God, has a true “poverty of spirit,” and never would want to be separated from God, who is love. As such, this gift arouses in the soul a vibrant sense of adoration and reverence for God and a sense of horror and sorrow for sin.............

...................his gift of fear of the Lord is sometimes misunderstood because of the word “fear.” “Fear of the Lord” is not a servile fear whereby a person serves God simply because he fears punishment, whether some sort of temporal punishment in this life or the eternal punishment of hell. A genuine relationship with God is based on love, not fear. Therefore, this “fear of the Lord” is a filial or reverential fear that moves a person to do God’s will and avoid sin because of love for God, who is all good and deserving of all of our love. In a similar way, a child should not be motivated to obey a parent simply because of fear of punishment, but because of love and respect;

 

 

[Peace]

Yeah that is what everyone says but I will tell you what, there are plenty of days when I get up and go to Mass only because I don't want to commit a mortal sin. I get what the person is saying but I think that fear of punishment is also legit.

[Guest]

38 minutes ago, Peace said:

Yeah that is what everyone says but I will tell you what, there are plenty of days when I get up and go to Mass only because I don't want to commit a mortal sin. I get what the person is saying but I think that fear of punishment is also legit.

Me too!  I am terrified of mortal sin because of the full consequences. Fear of punishment is what The Church calls "Imperfect Contrition" and a quite valid and legit form of contrition.

One of the things I do love about our Catholic Theology is that it does reflect the Loving Mercy of God.  The Lord well knows we are most weak and imperfect creatures; that even if most of us probably don't make it to perfection and even fall far short, a very very long way short, and He makes allowance for it embracing us with Loving Mercy and Understanding - and His Church reflects it as She should and must.

One of my long time favourite biblical quotations comes from Isaiah Chapter 46:

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"Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you. To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?"

Indeed who is like unto Our God !  He must and will carry us, He who created us.  His Divine Goodness knows we cannot and will not make it on our own   God does not say in this verse "I will be WITH you" .........rather "I WILL CARRY you".  (caps are for emphasis, do not mean to shout)  He will sustain and DELIVER us from all our faults and failings, our sinfulness.

Who can compare to Our Most Holy and Lovingly Merciful God !

[Gary david]

Good of you to put (fear of God) it proper context. It is very important to do things for the love of God and not the fear of Him. It brings joy instead of fear.

  Very nice and thank you. God bless you......

[Guest]

Thank you to you, Gary.  You are writing some truly lovely posts, inspirational. 

I think that we are most all on a journey and can only be where one is at wherever it might be.   We can only play the cards we are dealt, the cards in our hands.    I can recall a time many years ago now when I was so terrified of mortal sin and sin in general, that it became severe scruples.  I was terrified as well of the condemning Justice of God.   I do think now that God has Overwhelming Compassion on those who suffer scruples, though the poor suffering person will not know it.  The cross comes in all forms, all sizes, every degree.  The crux of the matter is faithfulness through whatever the trial and difficulty might be.  That counts with The Lord as much as one's faithfulness, under stress, can get very wobbly rather often.  One could even fall and fail, but The Lord lifts one up.  He knows what is deep in our hearts, beyond our own knowing.

The nun who taught me said that it is not the failure, how small or large it might be, rather it is how long it takes one to get up (confession if necessary) and go on as if nothing had happened.

That time is long behind me now but I can still recall just how dreadful a time it was.  I was cured of scruples in the Confessional - I went in scared and unhappy and I came out with Peace and Joy that stayed.  It was such a marked difference, it seemed almost like one person went into the Confessional and another walked out.  It is indeed Jesus in the Confessional.

Father said as I got up to go from the Confessional "Be happy" and from that very moment on I was.  I came home on the bus like a stunned mullet which is a rather apt description "What on earth had happened!".  The poor man, an incredible priest, had listened quietly and attentively to a few pages of every single thing I had done, thought I had done, thought I might have done, thought I would do in the future, from the very slightest fault and every temptation which I regarded as sinful- all written in an exercise book of possibly two or three pages quite agonisingly prepared.  I kept going to the end of the waiting line for the Confessional, knowing I might be in there for a while.

Never can know what is around the next corner.  Our God of The Surprise.  The journey.  I think it is the most exciting adventurous journey one can have in this life.  The great adventure.

Edited March 23, 2019 by BarbaraTherese