Essential Skills for Following Jesus

Wisdom (Pt. 2) The Fear of the Lord

Can either Presidential candidate prevent us from living a life that makesgoodhappen? Biblical wisdom says, “No.”

Fear is a driving factor in almost all of our lives. It would be difficult for it to be otherwise. Some of us fear Trump more than Kamala Harris. Others fear Democrats more than Republicans. Some of us are afraid of them both. We fear Putin and his cronies, the Ayatollah in Iran, and the Chinese communist party’s plans for the future. And all of this is in addition to personal fears for our lives, families, and friends.

For centuries Westerners have struggled to avoid the biblical idea that wisdom begins with fear of the Lord. We can understand that we are meant to love God. But should we fear God as well? Yet the Bible states this clearly throughout the book of Proverbs.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
    but fools despise wisdom and instruction.¹

The Oxford Dictionary defines fear as: “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.” When we focus too much on the unpleasant feeling caused by fear we will do anything to get rid of it; even allowing avoidance of what we fear to become the primary factor in making important decisions. But this is only one side of fear. As the definition above tells us, fear also lets us know when we are in danger.