Serious question for those of you that are religious….

Im asking because I honestly don’t know, and I am not looking for a lengthy battle thread.

So god is referred to as “great” and “forgiving”, amongst many other things.

Why is it that people refer to themselves as “god fearing”?  I saw a co-worker’s tattoo today that simply said “FEAR GOD”. Hence the question.

If he is the one that will allegedly forgive all my sins and make things great again, why should I “fear” him????

I “fear” people that intend to do harm to me, not the opposite.

The Proverbs of Solomon

1:5-8
⁵For a wise man who hears these things will be wiser, and the man of understanding will gain direction.
⁶He will understand both a parable and a hidden saying, both wise words and riddles.
⁷The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and there is good understanding in all who practice it;
⁸And godliness toward God is the beginning of perception.

9:7-10
⁷He who chastises evil men shall receive dishonor to himself, and he who reproves the ungodly man shall be blamed himself.
⁸Do not reprove evil men, so they may not hate you; reprove a wise man and he will love you.
⁹Give the opportunity to a wise man, and he will be wiser; instruct a righteous man, and he will continue to receive it.
¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the counsel of saints is understanding; for to know the law is characteristic of a good mind.

It’s pretty apparent.

They want vengeance for their anger, but a loving father for themselves.

Obey or mean stuffs!

Read book and chant for good stuffs!

It’s clown car AF.

Its a reverence.

FYI: God wants everyone to be saved. He's not the vengeful sadistic god corporate religion paints him.

1 Tim 2 4-6 (ERV)
4 God wants everyone to be saved and to fully understand the truth. 5 There is only one God, and there is only one way that people can reach God. That way is through Christ Jesus, who as a man 6 gave himself to pay for everyone to be free. This is the message that was given to us at just the right time.

Because people who Ultimately reject God will be destroyed in the lake of fire per Revelation. Not placed in some buring hell fire writhing in pain for eternity. Thats some Dante's inferno fake religion dogma. The lake of fire is the second (final) death. Your hard drive with its operating system will be drilled through so to speak. Yeah, thats something to be afraid of.

God is both the God of Justice and the Got of Love.

To fear (verb) has a couple different meanings.  The one commonly used means to be frightened by, anxious of, and is typically a negative emotion.  The archaic meaning is to have a reverential awe or profound respect.  

The Bible has many such words that change the meaning of its verses.  Take for example “to know” someone.  The common use is to be acquainted with.  The biblical/archaic meaning is to have sexual relationships with a person.  The meanings are both used in the Bible and are determined by the context of the verse in which they are used.  

While the wicked may fear (negative emotion) God because of the consequences of their sins, the righteous fear (awe and reverence) God because of his mercy and grace when they turn to Him.

Fear is a good way to control people.

God loves us but He is willing to punish us for rejecting Him or disobeying his direction.
He made us so that we would worship Him.
He did not create us to just run around and have a good time.

Everybody believes in something, even if that thing is confused or wrong.

Seriously, there are billions of people who believe that are right or at least on the right track.

....we are all wrong about a lot of it.

Doesn't that strike you as a little odd? The most powerful entity in the universe needs to make things to worship him?

People misrepresent that all the time. The correct intention is that God is reproducing. Same as we do. We dont have kids simply for them to worship us.

We are promised to be co-heirs to the universe as his children. Its our ultimate destiny.

I can accept that explanation.

This is where it comes from and what it means. It’s misinterpreted today and often used as a means of criticism because people don’t bother to educate themselves with a quick search before speaking out, they just make assumptions based on their lack of knowledge of the subject of their derision.

I had an issue with that as well.  

The best explanation I received...  The fear is, the fear of separation from him.  

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

Fear in the Bible means “revere”. There is a difference in “religious “ and Christian.

I believe the Phrase:"Fear of the Lord" is a bad Translation and doesn't mean fear as we know fear.
I believe it means something like: "Respect of the Lord"

Hope this helps.

“fear” is often understood more as profound respect, reverence, or awe rather than the modern sense of fear linked to harm or danger. This kind of “fear” acknowledges God’s power and justice, as well as His mercy and love. It’s about recognizing the greatness and authority of God and aligning one’s actions accordingly, out of respect for His laws and love for His benevolence.

So when people say they are “god fearing,” they’re often expressing a deep respect and a commitment to living in a way that honors the values and commands of their faith, which includes the belief in God’s capacity to forgive and guide towards a better path.

Modern usage applied to older phrases.

I’ve always thought of fear and respect as synonymous when in relation to God.

As a child, I loved my mother because she cared for me. I knew that if I acted outside the rules she implemented, I would be punished. When considering making poor choices, I “feared” her and the inevitable consequences.

It's more respect than fear. Understand that God created you and can utterly destroy you in an instant, but because He is loving and merciful, He doesn't do that. But if you get full of yourself and reject Him up until the moment of death, you're not going to be in a good position.

no worries -- you're using the wrong definition of 'fear'

NOT fear as in afraid of pain / suffering

instead --fear as to hold in 'awe' and 'reverence'

He doesn't need any of us to worship Him. He wants us to worship Him to share in His creation. It's the essence of love, giving completely to another.

it strikes me as more odd that a little speck of bio-matter like myself would somehow understand the breadth of omniscience the creator of the universe would possess

its okay to not know everything  

Matthew 25:46 seems to say otherwise

picturing the unsaved suffering for all of eternity tends to give me more motivation to share how Jesus has changed my life , not just so others can know the hope and peace I've found , but also in the hopes of saving someone from that fate

: shrugs :

I agree with you that it's okay not to know everything, and I think that's super important. But I also disagree because Catholic theology explains this. While a lot of God is unknowable, there are things we do know, and this is one of those things. In short, God is Love and in the Trinity we see an eternal exchange of Love. He's not selfish, rather He wants to keep sharing his Love (Himself), and that's why we were created. Our existence is a further expansion of all that is good. So we're not necessary to His existence, but we are necessary to further His desires. And that's more or less the whole point of life, to taste both eternity and hell and figure out if we want to exist in His Love forever and return it to Him for His sake, or do we despise Love and want to be eternally separated from Him?

This is very true for mankind but in God's case it is His desire for our submission to be given.  We have a choice to submit to Him.  Most people who are controlled have no choice.  

Here is what Emmett Fox has to say about Fear of the Lord:
1. Fear
The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10) and the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7).  This has misled many people, because the truth is that fear is entirely evil and is indeed the only enemy we have.  You can heal any condition if you can get rid of the fear attaching to it.  Trouble or sickness is nothing but subconscious fear out pictured in our surroundings.  It is true at all times that "we have nothing to fear but fear."
How then do we account for the texts quoted? The answer is that in the Bible the fear of God means reverence for God, not fear in the usual sense of the word.
Reverence for God is the beginning of wisdom.  How do we show reverence for God? Not by fine professions or sanctimonious prayers, but by seeing God everywhere, refusing to recognize anything unlike Him, and by living Christ life.
Confidence is worship.  You worship whatever you trust.  Are you trusting more in evil or in good? In fear or in God? What are you worshipping? This is the test.  
"Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace."
Fox, Emmet (2010-0 9-07).Make Your Life Worthwhile (location 954). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

My perception is that the Old Testament God was an angry God that was to be feared and obeyed.  Then the New Testament God was a more loving, forgiving God who accepted that all people had free will.

A couple of things I have not resolved:

1.  Prayer.  If I accept that God is all knowing, he knows everything I want and think.  He already knows how I feel about him and what I want/need.  In fact, if God is all knowing he has known everything I would think from the moment of my conception.  So prayer isn't really for God's sake, because he already knows everything.  Prayer is mostly for the benefit of the person praying.  I haven't resolved why so many religions think we should pray to a God who already knows everything.

2.  Praising God.  If I accept that God is perfect, he is far beyond any sort of vanity where he would want/need my praise, because if God already knows everything, he already knows how I feel.   So as in #1 above, most praise would be for the benefit of the person or persons praising God..God doesn't need anyone's praise because he isn't vain.

3.  You just have to have more faith.  When many religions are unable to adequately answer questions about their denomination, they try to turn the question back onto the person seeking knowledge by saying "you just have to have more faith, once you have more faith, you will understand".   To me, that answer is a cop out similar to the way some victims of crime get blamed for being a victim.  Victim blaming is where someone like a rape victim gets blamed for the rape because of her tight sweater or short skirt.  

Fear is very interesting...fear is always about some future event or circumstance.  We are already living in and dealing with our current events or circumstance...our fear is that things will get worse and that we won't be able to cope with things when they get worse.  But even if/when things get worse, we are still coping with that circumstance...again, we fear that it will get even worse in the future.

We fear we will oversleep, and therefore be late to work...and therefore we will get fired...and therefore be unable to pay our bills....and therefore loose our house...and therefore be out on the street...and on and on, all fears are about the future.

Decent question, but you put this in GD?

Its actually going better than I suspected.

If God is perfect love, then God must be perfect justice. You can't have one without the other. If you trust and believe that He sent His Son to take your guilt for your injustice as a created being, then fear not because you will experience perfect love for eternity. If you continue in rebellion and reject His free offer of that eternal love and forgiveness in His Son, then you have nothing to expect but His perfect justice. If you can even imagine what perfect love for eternity must be like, surely you can imagine what perfect judgement will feel like for eternity.

I fear God because even though I'm one of his and have a place in heaven.  He is in total control and as a saved person he's made me no promises of an easy life.

God destroys saved and unsaved alike every day at the drop of a hat for no apparent reason.

Think about everything you've ever done wrong in your entire life... God knows all of it. You will have to face him on judgment day and answer for everything. Then you will be rewarded or punished accordingly. God-fearing is motivation to be righteous.

thanks for the explanation -- but I'm Lutheran  

but i agree they are very enlightening and deep concepts to ponder -- for that reason --  i try to keep my Christian faith as basic as possible.  

The proper translation should be reverence not fear.

ARFCOM GD: It's actually more like reverence, you shouldn't be afraid of God.

Also ARFCOM GD: Saw some kids acting like little shits in Walmart, it's because their parents are spineless and won't lay down the law, what is the country coming to?

God isn't a contemptible Walmart parent.  There is quite a reasonable chance you should be afraid of him.

Attached File

Modern translations and interpretations have confused what was once easily understood.   The people who believed in the GOD of Israel did fear GOD because he punished those who "went after foreign gods (note the lower case spelling).   BUT the phrase also meant respect and fealty to the one true GOD.   HE also repeatedly punished the nations that afflicted HIS people.

God is all just, all powerful and all merciful.

All just because all things will be set right in the next life. The righteous will be rewarded and the evil will be punished. This is why should have a respectful fear of God's immanent justice.

All powerful because He can do all things.

And all merciful because He will always forgive anyone who is truly sorry and make reparations for their sins.

You're likely at the lowest level of understanding one could have.

It sounds like a valley girl with the latest left wing euphemisms "AF" "clown car".

Your ignorance is similar to people who don't know enough to understand the words in the second amendment. Language changes over time.

I mean I wouldn’t want to screw with a guy that fathered himself so he could sacrifice himself to himself. YMMV

One of the greatest reads of all time is "Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God" by Johnathan Edwards.

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK

Hope this helps

https://www.jonathan-edwards.org/Sinners.pdf

Thanks for sharing, I have started reading it.  I like the beginning and the slippery footing analogy.

For the OP I think there's a few things for you to consider, but first I must preface that I am not a bible scholar.  I have read and studied the Bible but it can be difficult for me to comprehend.  When I read it daily front to back I was able to understand and see God's plan for us but there is much I don't understand.

If we believe in God and that the Bible is His word than we believe that God is omnipotent and spoke our creation into being.  A god that can do this is one that most certainly we can be fearful of.  We should be cognizant and in awe of His every power and I believe in doing so we become closer to God.

If we believe in the creation story and the Bible is the word of God than we should also believe in God's promises.  There are numerous examples in the Bible of God following through with His word and promises.  As in creation when He speaks, it happens.

Now on the more singular subject of fear.  Fear is something we all know very well and it is usually from negative experiences that reinforce what we know about fear but what there is to fear and what we do fear is not the same.  I am a loving wife, mother and grandmother--yet I posses the ability to do great harm, people have every reason to fear what I am capable of, but that doesn't make people afraid of me because I am kind and try to be obedient to God.  

God is love and truth, and in truth He is to be feared but because of His love we do not need to live in fear.  With Him there is love, apart from him there is fear.  Jesus says on earth as it is in heaven.  We were made in God's image and we are designed to emulate God.  Often you see churches do it the other way around.  A young child has every reason to fear his parents, they have complete control over a child's life, their literal ability to survive and grow depends upon parenting--yet most parents go out of their way to love their children and teach them that they have nothing to fear from their parents.  On earth as it is in heaven.  God is our example.  We love because God first loved us.  Without God's love we would fear everything, just like a child that wasn't nurtured by its parents would be fearful.  We have great capacity for love because God's infinite love goes before us.  Every time we turn to love we learn and see more to love.  

So if we believe the Bible is God's spoken word than we eventually have to come to Faith.  Faith is believing without seeing and the more believing the more seeing.  God has every reason and more than the capability of destroying all of us and has told us He would destroy us for not obeying Him yet He also sent His son to save us.  He sacrificed His son to correct what was wrong in His plan.  We can not earn this grace and we definitely don't deserve it, but we do have to choose it and put our faith in it.  It's not easy putting your faith in something you can't see, that's written in confusing language and has been exploited by many for their own personal gain-but God calls to each of us, every single one of us.  Just as we children love our parents, we are connected to God our creator.  It is why you wonder and question, and it is why I try so very hard to share love and compassion--because we were created by God in His imagine and He claims us as His.  He has every right and ability to just simply take us but has determined that we will have the freedom of choosing on our own.  This love has come at great price for God and for humanity.  Unfortunately it has allowed sin dominion on earth and within us.  Adam loved God and knew his commandments but choose Eve over God's law.  He lacked faith, even though he walked with God, and spoke with God and saw and witness His ability, he allowed fear (the loss of Eve) to rule his heart, rather than his faith in God's ability.  Who knows how this world would be had Adam chose God over Eve.  We do know that there is a second Adam, created without sin who walked this earth and chose God and died for all of our sins.  Jesus was born without sin but that is the only thing that differs in his life than ours.  He still had to turn to God each and every time, endure His parents and community short comings, look for God at every trial in order for Him to be our perfect savor.  

So yes, God is fearsome but he chooses to love and calls each of us to turn to Him in faith and asks us to accept His blessings so we can bless others and bring them to Him--and like us they too have been seeking Him-our creator.