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What exactly is fear of the Lord?


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What does it mean exactly to fear the Lord?  I have my thoughts and perhaps speculations about what it could be, but what does it really mean?

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From the Baltimore Catechism:

177. Q. Which are the gifts of the Holy Ghost?

A. The gifts of the Holy Ghost are Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord.

178. Q. Why do we receive the gift of Fear of the Lord?

A. We receive the gift of Fear of the Lord to fill us with a dread of sin.

 

This is from the Catechism of the Council of Trent, under the section on Penance:

The Steps Which Lead Up To This Virtue

We must also point out the steps by which we may ascend to this divine virtue. I The mercy of God first goes before us and converts our hearts to Him. This was the object of the Prophet's prayer: Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted.

Illumined by this light the soul next tends to God by faith. He that cometh to God, says the Apostle, must believe that he is, and is a rewarder of them that seek him.

A salutary fear of God's judgments follows, and the soul, contemplating the punishments that await sin, is recalled from the paths of vice. To this (state of soul) seem to refer these words of Isaias: As a woman with child, when she draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs, so are we become.

Then follows a hope of obtaining mercy from God, encouraged by which we resolve on improvement of life.

Lastly, our hearts are inflamed by charity, whence springs that filial fear which good and dutiful children experience; and thus dreading only to offend the majesty of God in anything, we entirely abandon the ways of sin.

___________

 

 

Fear in this context seems to be the positive fear: fear of sin, fear of offending God, who is "all good and deserving of all our love." And of course we are meant to fear the pains of hell. That is kind of the point. In a sense fear of the Lord is perhaps the only legitimate, the only holy sort of fear.

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 During his general audience Pope Francis spoke on the Holy Spirit’s gift of Fear of the Lord, saying it does not mean we should be afraid of God, but rather serves as a reminder to do the right thing.

“Fear of the Lord is an ‘alarm.’ When a person is not on the right path, he settles himself in evil,” the Pope explained in his June 11 audience in St. Peter’s Square.

“When he distances himself from God, when he takes advantage of everyone, when he lives attached to money, to vanity, to power or pride, then the holy fear of God draws his attention: You will not be happy like this, this way you will end badly.”

Continuing his instruction on the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Pope greeted the crowds gathered to hear his weekly address, saying “Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our catechesis on the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, we now turn to the last of these gifts: fear of the Lord.”

 

“The fear of the Lord, the gift of the Holy Spirit, doesn’t mean being afraid of God, since we know that God is our Father that always loves and forgives us,” the Roman Pontiff observed.

It “is no servile fear, but rather a joyful awareness of God’s grandeur and a grateful realization that only in him do our hearts find true peace” he continued, adding that “when the Holy Spirit lives in our heart, he instills consolation and peace in us.”

This peace, Pope Francis noted, is “the attitude of those who place all their trust in God and feel protected, like a child with his father,” explaining that through fear of the Lord “we become, as Jesus asks us, like little children, trusting in the goodness and the protection of our heavenly Father.”

The Pope also described how this gift “allows us to imitate the Lord in humility and obedience, not with a resigned and passive attitude, but with courage and joy.”

“He turns us into Christians convinced that we are not subject to the Lord out of fear, but rather conquered by his paternal love.”

Referring to the fear of the Lord as an “alarm” that awakens us “to the presence of sin in our lives” and reminds us that one day we will “be held accountable to the just Judge,” the pontiff stated that when we start to sin, this spiritual gift can help direct the faithful back on the right path. 

Pope Francis then prayed that the fear of the Lord would allow all “to understand that one day everything will finish and we will have to be accountable to God.”

 

“Let us pray that the fear of God, together with the other gifts of the Holy Spirit, will renew us in faith and constantly remind us that in God alone do we find our ultimate happiness, freedom and fulfilment.

 

from : http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-fear-of-the-lord-an-alarm-reminding-us-of-whats-right-48609/

When I do something, I always think "what will my parents think of it ?" not only because I love them, but because I fear them : fear of punition, fear to offend them, etc... For me, that is fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord is a reminder to act according to christian doctrine, and to serve Him. 

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A poster on here years ago said, "Instead of 'fear of the Lord' in a sense of running away in fear; we should have the fear of losing Our Savior that makes us run toward Him.”

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MarysLittleFlower

Its basically fearing offending God, from love of Him 

Edited by MarysLittleFlower
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