Article August 20, 1955 Issue

FEAR OF GOD DESTROYS FALSE FEARS

NAOMI PRICE

A student of the Bible will discern that the word fear is used in two different ways. In one way it is employed to express awe, or profound reverence, and is always connected with God. We are instructed to fear before the Lord and stand in awe of His might and majesty. This profound reverence of Almighty God, bearing perpetual witness to the beauty and grandeur of Soul, constitutes reflection. "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man," is the way it is expressed in Ecclesiastes (12:13). True thought which acknowledges only the presence of infinite Love embodies beautiful images of pure and spiritual perfection, and finds that man is the exact likeness of his Maker.

Jesus gave us the best example of the understanding and consistent reverence of God that the world has ever known. In the face of tempest, hatred, disease, and death he honored only the gentle but powerful presence of Love. His reflection of infinite goodness was flawless. Daily and hourly he truly feared God and kept His commandments.

The other use of the word fear is the exact reverse of the first. This false fear, which believes in the presence of something apart from God, has no foothold in the thought which stands in awe of omnipresent goodness, nor is it any part of real consciousness, which cognizes only the things of Spirit. Jesus instructed his disciples (Luke 12:32), "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

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