Fear and Love

Fear and Love

Bible: Deuteronomy 10:12-17

What does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God . . . [and] to love him? (V.12).

I remember two of my school teachers really well. One was loved by our class, but only because we could do what we wanted. And we never needed to listen to her because she never gave punishments! The other was pretty scary. He knew how to keep control, to discipline and to make us focus on our work. But, actually, by the end of school I think we preferred our harsh teacher. He got good results out of us and treated us fairly.

God wants us to both fear and love Him too. Today’s Bible reading, Deuteronomy 10, says that following God needs both. In verse 12, we are told “to fear the Lord your God” and “to love him”.
To “fear” the Lord God is to give Him the highest respect. It’s not about being scared by Him or His power. It’s about respecting who He is—God!— and the power and authority He has over everything. We show we fear Him when we listen to Him, do what He says and trust Him more than anyone else.

But we show our fear out of “love”, not because we have to. We live for Him because we love who He is and what He has done for us in Jesus! “We love because he first loved us” (1 JOHN 4:19). Our fear and love for God help us to keep Him first in our lives.

To Pray About…

Father, You are perfect. I give my life to You. Thank You for saving me in Jesus.
I love You and want to obey You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.
Amen.

IF WE FEAR AND LOVE GOD, WE WILL DO WHAT HE SAYS.