Living in the Fear of God

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Our God is a “consuming Fire”. xliv The Bible relates many accounts of people who have encountered God or His messengers: in every case they were struck with fear. This is the awe of meeting One who is so much more than we are used to in our normal life. This is one reason for the importance of true God-centred worship; that we, who behold His glory, are drawn into an attitude of awe-filled praise. This activity involves our thoughts and engages our feelings. We are to live in awe at His majestic holiness, in gratitude for His mercy and in fear of His wrath. When God becomes the centre of our worship, we come into right relationship with other things. We have a need for profound humility. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble; xlv therefore we seek true and proper humility. This is not a weakness but controlled strength, a proper relationship to God, and the cessation of comparing ourselves with others. In coming to a love of God, we learn to love the standards that He loves and also to hate what He hates. This is not out of craven fear but out of a hunger for the righteousness that he has awakened in us.