What exactly does it mean to be "god-fearing"?

Question

I have heard people use this to describe themselves many times. I'd like to think that it doesn't literally mean to be afraid of god. If it does, though, then why would anyone want to be god-fearing, for that matter?

Answer 1

God-fearing refers to a holy reverential fear of God...not "to be afraid" of God.

It is like coming up to the very edge of the Grand Canyon...and being filled with awesome wonder and speechless amazement! Then multiply this feeling (or one like it) a billion times over...!

As a God-fearing person, I am filled with awesome wonder and speechless amazement with the Creator of all that is seen and unseen! The depths of the oceans, the expanse of the universe through space, the complexity of the human body...

But more so...the wonders of a Holiness, Perfection, and Glory that infinitely exceeds that of any human I know...so far and away above and more glorious than me...who is but dust...so small, so insignificant, so sinful in comparison!

And THIS God allows us to approach Him...even bids us to do so...so that we may even know Him personally!

I am not "afraid" of God, as some might misunderstand. No TRUE Christian is "afraid" of being punished by God or "afraid" of going to hell...in such a way as is commonly thought.

A TRUE Christian knows that God became man and died in their place on the cross - suffering the wrath on God FOR them...so that they are forgiven and counted righteous!

Moreso, a TRUE Christian really KNOWS what they themselves deserve...an eternity of punishment in hell! But instead, because of the GRACE of God alone...they are spared. More than spared, they are elevated in this life and the life to come in a way that far exceeds anything we could ask or imagine!

The magnitude of this Gospel message, when TRULY felt at the heart level...is more astounding than all words can express. It can shake the very core of your being to literally cry buckets of tears in ecstatic joy and bliss.

This is to "fear God".

This is to KNOW GOD.

Just about EVERY time God (or an agent of God, an angel) appears to a person in the Bible...the person falls on their face in fear...and the FIRST thing always said is "Do not be afraid."

A TRUE encounter with the living God is often VERY frightening, but He always, as a loving, gracious, merciful Father says, "Do not be afraid, my little one."

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Clear as mud?
;)

Non-Christians have reason to be afraid of God, not Christians.

And non-Christians are simple foolish when they are not...for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

And just as this is so, a non-Christian could never fully understand or comprehend what it is to truly and Biblically "fear God."

...its too bad...and so sad.

Answer 2

God-fearing, to me, means to reverence and be in awe of God. It means to fear to do evil, because God is all powerful and will keep His promise to give the wicked their due.