“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).
What does that mean?
Let’s be honest. Some people hear that and think of fear the way a child fears an unpredictable, angry father. Maybe you grew up in a home where you never knew what kind of mood Dad would be in when he got home. Would he be kind—or would he explode? That’s not reverence. That’s trauma.
So when the Bible says we should fear the Lord, is that the kind of fear God wants? Are we to live in terror, afraid He might lash out without warning? After all, sometimes life does feel like that, doesn’t it? A flood destroys your home. A wreck changes your family forever. A phone call in the middle of the night rocks your world.
But that’s not the fear Proverbs is talking about.
When Elijah stood on the mountain, he felt the wind tear through the rocks. He heard the quake rumble underfoot. But God wasn’t in the storm. God came in the whisper (1 Kings 19). Fear of the Lord doesn’t come from His unpredictability. It comes from His absolute reliability.
We don’t fear God because He might lose His temper. We fear Him because He never changes.
He’s holy. He’s just. He means what He says. His judgment is certain. His standards don’t shift. That’s why Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body… but fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). That’s not a threat. That’s a wake-up call.
The fear of the Lord is not dread—it’s awe. It’s respect. It’s the beginning of wisdom because it means we finally take God seriously.
And that is where true wisdom begins.
Maranatha,
Jordy
