Ahhhh February…the Month of Love…but do we realize what love truly is and what it means to love?


First of all, Love is found in God because that is who He is (1 John 4:7-8).


Without a relationship with God, we are incapable of loving. One of the main aspects of having a relationship with God is to fear Him. You might wonder how fear God and loving go together, because in our finite thinking we associate fear with something negative. When the bible talks about fearing God, it has to do with a deep respect.


Out of our deep respect, worship, veneration, thinking highly of God, we are capable of loving others, including ourselves. Because we respect the guidelines god has laid out in His word, we do what He wants.  Jesus said there are two commandments: 1). Love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. 2). Love our neighbor as ourselves. We accomplish this out of our reverence for God.


The problem is that in our society people do not understand what that is. Respect is becoming a lost art. If we do not know what it is and we do not see it demonstrated, how will we be able to show it toward God?


Let’s look at some words to help create a picture for us.


Reverence means to love, be devoted to, loyalty, admire, zealous, observe, study, esteem, gaze at, cherish, stand in awe of, obey…..and so much more. Think about this concerning a relationship with God. Because we fear Him, we love Him. Jesus said if we loved Him, we would do His commands (John 14:15). When we are devoted to and loyal to someone we do what they like.


To admire means we take delight in God. If we take delight in Him, we take delight in His word. A person who is zealous towards someone does what they can to promote that person. They display excitement about them. To fear God means that we will observe, study and gaze at him. So often we observe our faults and others, but if we kept our focus on the Lord, we would act just like He does.


Reverence has to do with esteeming and standing in awe of God. He is the one with think highly of. Words cannot describe His magnificence. Cherishing has to do with prizing and treasuring the fact that we get to be His children and He is our Father.


Finally, in this small list, our fear of God is made evident in our obedience to Him, always keeping in mind that Jesus commanded us to love. All of God’s commands are summed up in loving Him and as a result, we will love others.


So, walk in the fear of God and your life will never be the same.

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Confessions




Unfailing Love And Faithfulness Cover Sin; I Avoid Evil By Fearing The Lord.

Proverbs 16:6
Unfailing Love And Faithfulness Cover Sin; Evil Is Avoided By Fear Of The Lord.





Deuteronomy 10:20
Fear The Lord Your God, Worship Him, Be Loyal To Him, And Take Your Oaths In His Name.









Proverbs 23:17 
Do Not Let Your Heart Envy Sinners,  But Be Zealous For The Fear Of The Lord All The Day…