In Greek, different words are used to describe love, the most famous of which are eros, agape, and philia. When translating these words into English, we have to use more words to describe the different forms of love.

Eros is romantic love. Agape is self-sacrificing love, of which Jesus is a very good example, and philia refers to the love between family, brothers and sisters. Just by the way, the name of the stick used to punish us as children was Filos. Only later did I realise that punishment also has something to do with love.

One needs a lot of wisdom to correctly convey the original understanding and meaning of words. When we read in the Bible ¹⁷… fear God (Amplified translation), we understand it incorrectly to mean that we must be afraid of God.

We understand fear when your life is in danger. It is a negative emotion. The emotion can turn into a physical reaction when we start crying and shaking.

Some people fear God in this way. Those are the people who are not in the right standing with God. Those who waste God’s grace and go their own way, yes, they should fear God’s judgement.

However, what is meant here by “to fear God”, is rather to be amazed by Him. To honour Him for His greatness and supreme power. To stop and appreciate His creation and realise how great His power and wonderful creative ability is.

If you want to honour God, stand still for a while in His creation and allow yourself to be overwhelmed by its beauty, but also the wisdom that was needed to make everything work correctly every second. A mastermind who created in this awesome way.

Leanna Crawford sings a song How Can You Not in which she constantly asks how is it possible that people cannot see God. The millions of stars, the birds that sing, the sunset – God’s love is visible in every little thing.

In the chorus, she sings: “How can you not see God? In every little thing, in every little moment. How can you not feel loved, because He is in the middle of every little thing and every moment.”

To fear God is to have respect for His greatness, His supreme power, His total Otherness. God is so much bigger than us. He is not our pal. That is why we have so much respect in fear of Him.

Fear of God helps us to know our place. We have been pardoned. We, who had actually been on our way to eternal hell, have been saved. Fortunately, the loving God, the Father, came to save us through Jesus.

When we realise this, when we see where we are heading and what a great miracle has happened in our life, we can’t help but live in such a way that God is always honoured.

I have so much respect for God, for who He is and for what He means to me. That is why I want to live a life where His goodness and favour become a reality in my world, so that the eyes of the people who fear God will open, and their fear of Him will change into respect, awe and reverence.

Scripture
1 Peter 2:13-17

Reflection
Are you sometimes afraid of God?
Does God occupy the right place in your life?
Do you have enough reverence for God?

Gebed
God, our Father, there is no one like You. I love You and I want to follow You reverently. Amen.