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| When fear and love mix |
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147:11 The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
To me, this verse speaks of balance in our relationship with God. We are told to fear God, yet revel in his love at the same time. On the surface, fear and love don’t seem to mix. But when it comes to God, if we really know him, knowing what he’s done and what he’s truly capable of, we should most definitely experience a few tremors in our gut. Yet in really knowing him, we also know that there is more in him to love than we will ever comprehend! God is love in fact…and creator, and righteous judge…a perfect balance.
Though he is always balanced, we can easily become unbalanced in how we regard God. Love without fear is like infatuation, God is reduced to a pet. Fear without love is like a phobia, God is reduced to a bogeyman. Either way, God is reduced!
I think about my relationship with my son. When do I most delight in him? In short, when he respects me, is affectionate, yet not ridiculously silly, and responds with obedience. These speak of fear and love mixed. My relationship with God is so much more than my son’s relationship with me, yet there are similarities!
Fear and love are both prime motivators too. If my son never obeyed me, I would conclude that he neither feared nor loved me. If we don’t seek to obey God first and foremost, I’m sure he would come to a similar conclusion regarding us! Therefore may I fear and love my Lord, and thus always be his delight!!
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| To add a comment to "When fear and love mix" |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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| Mike this is great. I don't know if it is the same but when my kids were little I had a sign on the frig that read "Discipline is Love". I wanted my children to know I discipline because I love them I didn't want them to fear me but the wrong they were thinking about doing. That's how God is We fear the discipline but know it's because he loves us. |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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I think that this is where " the law of the Lord is is his delight" comes from???? This by the was nicely written :0) I am an artist and I think in pictures... I imagine cups here on earth and there in heaven (like the cup Jesus was asking be taken from Him on the night he gave His life for you and I), those cups need balance...they get filled- with good things or bad things. they hold weight and are measured out, in one form or another. It is a hard road to find that balance if you are not looking to fill each side with love- the kind of love that Jesus gave. If we follow his examples than we can fill the balancing cups and not even know we are doing it! Thanks for the post :0) |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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| Absolutely wonderful. We praise You Lord. Thank you, Mike for this message. May God continue to bless you & your family. |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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I never thought of things that way before, thanks so much for posting! Great blog!!!! =)
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| March 07, 2009 |
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Great Article,
So often when the Bilble speaks of fear the term "awe" comes to mind. One of the ways that we love the Lord is to hold HIm in awe. You made some good points.
Pastor Chuck |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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| OUTSTANDING Mike |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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| OOOOOOOH YOU WENT AND HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD AGAIN! Thank you Lord! More good meat to chew on today! |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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| The Word of God states that if you don't discipline your children you hate them, i am so glad that God loves me, but most importantly i love and respect (fear) Him enough to be obedient to His Word. There is a huge difference between fear and respect in a natural since, i would rather my children respect me and not fear me. |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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| Outstanding Mike and you sound like an awesome father all the time. |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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Mike, this is an excellent illustration. I had no father growing up, but after I began attending church regularly as an adult, I met Charlie James, who became to me a father. He never threatened me, never disciplined me, and never lorded over me. With only a third grade education and no trade, being partially paralyzed on one side, he never was a threat to me, and he was too kind hearted to take the upper hand even if he did have one.
Even so, there was something about Charlie. He had a keen insight and discernment that always kept me somewhat caught off guard, always going directly to the heart of the matter instead of focusing on the symptoms. This caused me to have a 'fear' of Charlie that had nothing to do with his earthly abilities, and in response, I was cautious in my interactions with him.
By cautious, I mean respectful, mature and kind. This fear, however, also caused a profound respect for Charlie that inspired me to love him. I would do anything for Charlie, anything at all, because I felt that he was giving me his all, at least spiritually.
Charlie has gone on to be with the Lord now, but there was a time when I would go visit Charlie every day after work. He would laugh and greet me as his son (he was unable to have any children of his own). Moments after I walked through the door, he would begin challenging my spiritual walk, creating a much needed daily accountability that I still long for even today. I still pray that God will send me another Charlie to challenge me and help me grow spiritually. |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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| I thank God daily for the "discipline" shown to me as I was growing up. At certain times I felt like I was hated and unwanted....Boy do I know the difference now. I pray that families continue to instill this needed factor in their households for many don't and in the end is the unstable children now that we see in our society. I have relatives now that omitted it and now they are paying the price. Please pray for them.
God Bless* |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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Fear and love are both prime motivators too. If my son never obeyed me, I would conclude that he neither feared nor loved me. If we don’t seek to obey God first and foremost, I’m sure he would come to a similar conclusion regarding us! Therefore may I fear and love my Lord, and thus always be his delight!! I pray we fear and love God. |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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| lynne i can relate to u on what u said about some of ur relatives i have some the same way so i love what u wrote about discipline and yes i felt the way u felt before like hated and unwanted but yes like u said boy do i know the difference now and so i agree with everything u wrote and i am in agreement with it cuz i would have written something similar ok |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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In reading this post I wondered if you could imagine living in that period of time when some out of fear would not even say the name of God because of His Holiness. To me, that's fear and hard to imagine having such reverence that I could not say His Name. Until I am reminded by the song that says "I Can Only Imagine" and I suspect I will be speechless and fall on my face before Him. I thank Jesus that He died on that cross that I might know of His unfailing love and I can call Him "Abba".
Thanks for the post and your insights,
Teral |
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| March 07, 2009 |
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| Yes Sir, when we speak of fear of the LORD we are speaking of a reverence for who He is. We respect and honor Him knowing that He is fully capable of disciplining us accordingly and severly. However, perfect love casts out all fear. In my own relationship with my earthly father, as long as I was living right and doing right there was no fear. I was free to approach him about anything I wished, but when I knew I disobeyed and dishonored him I had every reason to be fearful and cautious in his presence. I am thankful that I am on good terms with my Heavenly Father so I can experience that unfailing love relationship! |
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| March 08, 2009 |
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Teral, those are some amazing insights! That really is a great perspective on reverence!! Todd, as I was meditating on the verse quoted, and even as I wrote the blog, 1 Jn 4:18 was in the back of my mind. It really seems to contradict the verses that tell us to fear God. As I thought about it though, it seemed to me that loving God is much different than loving earthly beings. If we love him in truth, it seems to me that love and fear (awe, reverence, trembling respect) will BOTH be fully present, rather than love increasing as fear decreases or vice versa. That's just what I'm thinking though! Appreciate your thoughts bro!! |
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| March 08, 2009 |
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I see no contradiction. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
II Cor 5 says, Therefore knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men.
If is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God.
Fear is awe and reverence/respect. How could we not love a God who is so awesome?! |
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| March 08, 2009 |
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| Very cool insights! Thanks! |
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| March 08, 2009 |
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"How could we not love a God who is so awesome?!"
That is a really awesome thought, I Iike how you put that Todd! All I'm saying is, on the one hand you have "the Lord delights in those who fear him", or "what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him..." and then on the other hand 1 Jn 4:18 says "There is no fear in love." It seems contradictory to anyone who reads it, at least on the surface. I'm sure I still have plenty more to learn on the topic, and I deeply appreciate the thought you invested in your responses. :)
Other comments are deeply appreciated as well! I'm sorry I haven't had time to respond to you! |
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| March 09, 2009 |
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I was easy on my boys and have been told I made many mistakes. I was rock solid on issues like forbidding movies that I felt were damaging. One son nearly drove me crazed asking to watch Nightmare on Elm Street for about a year. I was working one Friday and my husband his stepfather, was not. He rented it for my son. I was livid as he had nightmares for some time. My husband agreed he did the wrong thing and my son saw that I forbade it out of love. It came to mind because, God gives us rules for our sake. My late husband was not close to my son. He was not saved at that time and so the message of the movie was not a big deal. He was making an attempt to bond with my son in a way, by doing something that he wanted. I was not easy with my boys regarding such things that were worldly. I don't think they feared me, but they knew the boundaries well. We broke it down to "no drugs or satan worship". I know that sounds dumb but it was absolute, nothing that promoted anything anti-God (satan worship covered it all) and no drugs. be blessed Mike, Love is the last Word. |
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| March 09, 2009 |
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| fear and love, the perfect combination.... |
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| March 09, 2009 |
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| I think sometimes our lack of obedience and respect sometimes come from immaturity. When we grow older, most of us anyway, will grow in our respect of our parents and elders, and obey more often than not. Not everyone is that way, but most of the time. The same is true with God. Someone who does not have Christ in their heart, will not care if they obey or respect Him. When God comes into our lives, we change, sometimes subtly at first, but then as we mature in our beliefs, we grow in our respect and obedience. |
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| March 10, 2009 |
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| Wow, awesome quote!! |
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| March 14, 2009 |
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| Great post Mike! I love how you take every day things and weave them into your lessons :-) God bless. |
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