by Caleb Wyeth

Created on: October 10, 2009   Last Updated: October 27, 2009

Fear of God leads to humility before Him. Humility creates a teachable disposition, which fosters learning. Learning of God and about God, approached from this place of humility, yields wisdom. Fear-humility-teachability-wisdom.

Thus it is written repeatedly: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Indeed, several passages in the Bible include that very phrase with differnt variations at the end of each verse. This is clearly a concept important enough for us to understand that it is worth repeating (see Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, and Psalm 111:10).

The Bible has a lot to say about the need for wisdom, and the many verses that guide us to wisdom share some common themes: fear the Lord, humble yourself, be teachable and learn, and you will find wisdom and life. What we find is a roadmap, guiding us to a more perfect knowledge of ourselves and our God: a life-guiding and fulfilling wisdom.

FEAR

First, it is important to understand the type of 'fear' which God desires of us. It is what you might call a 'Godly-fear.' It is not the fear a servant harbors of his master, but rather more like a child's fear of a parent. The Lord is dangerous, powerful, omniscient and omnipresent. That is a lot to try and get your brain around! It inspires healthy fear, a sort of awe and sense of wonder.

Consider the young child, who may for a moment believe that if she can't see her parents, then they cannot see her. She hides out of sight behind a couch in the family living room, and goes about some sort of forbidden mischief. She fears getting caught by her parents, and when they catch on to her little game, she is in awe of their seeming omniscience having readily discovered her there. To the little girl, her parents see all and know all. They also get angry, punish, and discipline her when required, and because of this there is an element of fear in her with respect to her parents. Still they also love her, protect her, and counsel her in life, and she is humbled by their seemingly endless knowledge and wisdom.

Of course, as we wax older, we realize our earthly parents may not actually be all-knowing, but this is not the case with our heavenly Father. He remains all-powerful and all-knowing, infinite in his wisdom and love. When the Bible instructs us to fear God, which it does repeatedly and consistently, particularly throughout the Old Testament, we are being instructed to honor, respect, and obey our Father. However, this is just the beginning. Fear alone will not automatically

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