If the Christian God is supposed to be loving and forgiving why are we always told we must be Godfearing?
Something I've always wondered
2006-08-27 20:47:43 · 26 answers · asked by n.hyatt 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Matthew 10:28 - And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him (God) which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
"Fear him" was found 26 times in 25 verses.
Deuteronomy 8:6 - Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
Deuteronomy 13:4 - Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
Job 9:35 - Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.
Job 37:24 - Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.
Psalms 22:23 - Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
Psalms 22:25 - My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
Psalms 25:14 - The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
"Fear him" was found 26 times in 25 verses.
Psalms 33:18 - Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
Psalms 34:7 - The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
Psalms 34:9 - O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
Psalms 67:7 - God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
Psalms 85:9 - Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
Psalms 103:11 - For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
Psalms 103:13 - Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
Psalms 103:17 - But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;
Psalms 111:5 - He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.
Psalms 145:19 - He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
"fear him" was found 26 times in 25 verses.
Psalms 147:11 - The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
Matthew 10:28 - And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Luke 1:50 - And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
Luke 12:5 - But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Revelation 19:5 - And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
"fear of God" was found 8 times in 8 verses.
Genesis 20:11 - And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.
2 Samuel 23:3 - The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
2 Chronicles 20:29 - And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.
Nehemiah 5:15 - But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.
Psalms 36:1 - The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.
Romans 3:18 - There is no fear of God before their eyes.
2 Corinthians 7:1 - Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Ephesians 5:21 - Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
2006-08-27 21:09:25 · answer #1 · answered by deacon 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The word "fearing" from the Bible does not mean we should be scare of, or frightening, etc. That's the last thing God wants us to feel: frightening. When the wrod "fear" is found in the Bible, it means respect. When the Bible talks about the fear for the Lord is actually meaning the respect for the Lord.
You know, when you love someone, what you really want is to be loved back, not feared, right? The same thing with God. God is happy when we love Him back for all He's made for us. One of the most succeding deceptions of Satan is to make us think that God is a dictator, Someone we should be affraid of. That's one of the reason Jesus came to this earth, to show how God really is because it was God Himself who had taken the human nature to live among us for 33 years!
Thanks to Jesus now we know with no doubt that God really loves us because He's proved it through His blood. Remember, God loves you more than anything; He'd have given up His life just for you though you were the only one in the whole universe.
Hope it helps. God bless you!
2006-08-27 21:06:07 · answer #2 · answered by Cachanilla 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fear in the context is to humbly respect God.
What we need to fear is our own rebelliousness.
God is Good and Loving and by the way, Only Love can get into heaven. Somehow between now and them we need to give up all of this petty foolishness.
We cannot bring our past hurts. Our self righteous attitudes. Pride envy, lust, greed, gluttony. All of those things sound like sickness, don't they? Well in Heaven there is no sickness. Gee if all of the garbage was allowed in Heaven, It wouldn't be much of a heaven. Now would it?
So let's start trying to shed the old self and keep the best for the Lord.
God Bless You, ;-).
2006-08-27 21:07:22 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not so much that you fear God, it's that you fear what your life would be like without God. Plus, in the Old Testament, He got ticked off and wiped out a lot of people. A LOT of people. In bad ways.
2006-08-27 20:54:31 · answer #4 · answered by traydenma 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Bible says "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"
however, this was coined in barbaric egnorant times I'm not superstitious so it becomes an idiom or metaphor of poetic license ...a too seldom understood or heeded cautionary message for believers and non-believers alike.
2006-08-27 21:07:55 · answer #5 · answered by dogpatch USA 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do you fear your parents.....? they are still Lovers and Carers
why do you fear your teacher..... afterr all they do love and care you
so as you should fear your God Almighty to avoid sin... i.e. when ever you get chance to transgress and go away from the Creator we must have the fear on the Lord
2006-08-27 21:00:53 · answer #6 · answered by PonderOfGod'sDesire 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not a fear like a child being afraid of the dark or being lost or the bad fear that the enemy gives us. But like when we are children we know we have to do right or we get in trouble by our parents, good Godly fear. God loves us, but he diciplines us and chastens us. God wants us to wak in liberty, but also obey Him. And when we don't obey Him, He will dicipline us.
2006-08-27 20:54:27 · answer #7 · answered by 4CHRIST 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Indeed. Conservative Christians say that we should all live in fear of God's "justice" upon us...that we are by default monstrous, wretched things that even God does not care to look upon.
Unless of course, you stroke his super-fragile ego. Then you're in like Flynn.
There is no love in this version of God. Only ego and pettiness.
2006-08-27 20:51:07 · answer #8 · answered by Scott M 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God is a loving God but He is also a Judging God and a vengeful God and a powerful God. Just thinking of what He is capable of scares the sh*t out of me. But on the other hand I love Him because I know He loves me too much to ever unleash His ultimate power on me. lol
Also, when they say fear they also mean respect.
2006-08-27 20:52:23 · answer #9 · answered by BoredomStrikes 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
We are supposed to 'fear' God so that we do not get complacent with our attitude towards him. It is to teach us that yes he is loving but that he knows everything, including what is in our hearts, so we better be on our best behavior at all times.
2006-08-27 21:58:26 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
whoever told you that is trying to mislead you. God the giver of both love and life is not here to to inflict fear on you, on the contrary he wants you to feel his incredible comfort. when God punishes us we think we're subject to his wrath...wrong...we're his children, thus far we must be disciplined so we won't repeat our failure. God must not be feared, he must be trusted. Believe in him and you will never be afraid.
2006-08-27 21:02:43 · answer #11 · answered by Armando Q 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋