Drawn not dragged. Do Not Fear… Fear God?

Jesus says, “Do not fear.” Notice the command is not: “There is nothing frightening.”
Rather, it is: “Do not let fear become your master.” Yet in the same passage Jesus says:
“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
He means God. At first this may sound strange. Do not fear… but fear God? Not really.
Biblical fear of God is not terror.
From the beginning, the Church has taught that fear can be understood in two distinct ways.
The first is the fear of a slave before a harsh master.
This is the fear of punishment.
The Church views this as an imperfect but often necessary first step toward faith.
It may help turn a person away from sin and toward God.
The second is the fear of a child before a loving parent.
This is not terror, but profound respect, love, and the desire not to grieve the One who loves us.
This is the mature fear of God that draws believers ever deeper into communion with Him.
With this in mind, biblical fear of God means awe, reverence, and ultimate accountability.
And this fear of God liberates us from slavery to lesser fears.
Many of the great saints of the Church observed:
When we cease fearing God, we begin fearing everything else.

A Three-Legged Stool
Let us take a closer look at what Scripture means by the fear of God.
As we have seen, fear consists of three closely connected realities:

1. Awe
2. Reverence
3. Ultimate Accountability

This morning during our brief Sunday School moment, we compared these to a three-legged stool.
Leg one is Awe.
Leg two is Reverence.
Leg three is Ultimate Accountability.
Remove one leg—or more—and you already know what happens to a three-legged stool.

Leg One: Awe
I have heard many people say that God is awesome.
I have also heard people say that French fries are awesome, a fishing lure is awesome, and all sorts of other things are awesome.
Perhaps we would do well to reserve the word for the One who truly is awesome!
Do I hold the Creator of all things visible and invisible in a category that belongs to no one and nothing else?
That is the first leg. God alone is awesome in the fullest sense of the word.
He inspires a holy awe that no created thing, activity, achievement, or experience can equal.

Leg Two: Reverence
St. John Chrysostom frequently emphasized reverence during the Divine Liturgy,
reminding believers that worship is not something we create but something we enter into.
He taught that recognizing the majesty and presence of God should fill both clergy and laity with holy awe,
transforming our posture, attention, speech, and actions into offerings of honour and worship.

The reverence of God is not merely a polite gesture, but is the foundational posture of the human soul.
Reverence is a profound blend of awe, holy fear, and devoted love that shapes how a believer thinks, prays, and lives.
St. Augustine taught that reverence begins when we recognize that God is the absolute centre of reality and that we are entirely dependent upon His grace.
Reverence means yielding our own desires to align with the Divine Will rather than exalting human pride.
The Church has long taught that reverence is the beginning of wisdom…
the proper alignment of the human heart, fostering genuine peace, obedience, and openness to the presence of God.

Leg Three: Ultimate Accountability
According to the Church Fathers, ultimate accountability is the natural and inevitable outcome of true awe and reverence.
Holy awe is not merely a passing emotion,
but is the recognition that if God is truly as infinitely holy, majestic, and present as our worship proclaims,
then we are accountable to Him for how we live.
St. Augustine reminds us that awe of God’s inescapable presence means answering not only for our public actions but also for the hidden corners of the heart.
Because God is everywhere, accountability includes our thoughts, secret motives, and private desires.
True awe leaves no room for hypocrisy.

Questions for Reflection

1. When we stand before God in the Liturgy, do we experience something of the holy trembling of the saints, or has the noise of the world dulled our capacity for divine awe?
2. How might our daily struggles with sin change if we viewed accountability not primarily as legal punishment, but as the therapeutic boundaries that keep us from drifting away from God’s love?
3. In what ways might we bring the reverent silence and mystery of the Liturgy into our homes, transforming our daily lives and even our private thoughts into places of continual prayer?

Prayer: O Lord Jesus Christ our God, fill our hearts with holy awe before Your majesty, and grant us true reverence to love You as Your faithful adopted children.
Remind us of our ultimate accountability before Your watchful eye, that we may purify our hidden thoughts and live continually in Your presence.
For You are a merciful God who loves humankind, and unto You we ascribe glory,
together with Your Father who is without beginning, and Your all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.