What is the fear of God?

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Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglica...
Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 9:10). If that is so, and it is, then the fear of the Lord is never to be feared. This fear is not a barrier to growth but a breakthrough to growth and eternal fulfillment. But the word fear needs clarification, doesn't it? After all, doesn't the Bible say, "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John4:18)? Yes. So, there must be two kinds of fear.

One kind of fear is the fear that shrinks from the Lord in dread, that cowers from Him and turns away from Him in terror, as if He were our problem. That kind of fear is pagan, not Christian. It has nothing to do with glorifying and enjoying God. It is suspicion and resentment toward God. The gospel does not create this fear in our hearts. The gospel shows us the glory of God's grace in Christ, and lifts us up, assured and fearless, to face life boldly as men and women of eternal destiny.
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