The Sweet Fruit of Godly Fear

Godly fear is the simultaneous acknowledgement of God’s terrible majesty and tender mercy. God’s mercy draws us in, while His majesty ensures we approach with great humility. Such an approach is not only pleasing to God (Ecclesiastes 12:13; 1 Peter 2:17), it also has the sweetest effects in the life of the Christian. While we can’t explore all of those effects in this article, let me just share three of them with you in hopes that you’ll be further compelled to cultivate a life of godly fear.

Remarkable Courage

Living in the fear of God produces remarkable courage. Proverbs 14:26 states, “In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence.” That confidence propels us forward to carry out God’s will, despite real dangers that lie ahead. Jesus touched on this same reality when He said:

I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! (Luke 12:4–5)

In this world some people hold great power and authority over us yet none of them hold a candle to the power and authority of our God. The power to cast into hell far surpasses the power to kill the body. So we say with the Psalmist:

The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me? (Psalm 118:6)

Remarkable Holiness

Another fruit of godly fear is personal holiness. When we truly fear God, we are driven to obey Him. When a police officer commands you to raise your hands, you comply because he holds authority and power as a representative of the law. Similarly, if God tells us to do anything from His Word, if we truly fear Him, that godly fear will compel us to eagerly obey.

The prophet Isaiah, gripped by his vision of the Lord on His throne, responded immediately to the Lord’s call for a missionary: “Here am I. Send me!”

Likewise, the one who fears God will be ready to yield in obedience even when God’s commands seem counterintuitive. Abraham was called to sacrifice his only son, Isaac—an outrageous command from a human perspective. Yet, because Abraham feared God (and believed Him), he obeyed. And as he was in the middle of the act, God intervened, saying,

Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me (Genesis 22:12).         

Noah, too, was called to a task that seemed strange: build an ark to save the world. Though rain as we know it was unknown, and a flood unprecedented, the fear of God (and faith) drove Noah to action:

By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence [another word for godly fear!] prepared an ark for the salvation of his household (Hebrews 11:7).

Godly fear produces personal holiness.

Remarkable Love

A third fruit of godly fear is a remarkable love for others. Proverbs 29:25 warns that “the fear of man lays a snare” and many find themselves tangled up in this sin. More concerned with man’s approval than God’s, they live slavishly bound to the smiles and frowns of others. And when you are enslaved to others you are not free to love them.

The fear of God, however, breaks the chains of the fear of man and sets us free to actually love others. That’s because perfect love casts out slavish notions of fear (1 John 4:18). Now rather than fearing the people around us, we love them and find ourselves joyfully fulfilling the great desire of the God we love and fear the most (Mark 12:30).

So there you have it. Do you want to live a life of remarkable courage, personal holiness, and love? Cultivate a life of godly fear and the rest will follow.