Is fear good or bad?

What is fear? Is fear good or bad? In our culture today we say fear is bad and only cowards fear. We claim that fear is not useful. But is this true? Fear is a complex issue.

Before we dive into whether fear is useful or not, good or bad, we must define what fear is.
There are three main types of fear expressed in the Bible: fear of men, fear of God, and natural fear (fear of dying, losing earthly things, etc.).

So, whether fear is good or not means what you mean by fear. The definition of fear varies but the Hebrew word used for fear is Yirah which means; awe filled reverence, fear, and deep respect.

All fear can be good. Fearing man by showing deep respect is very much supported by scripture some examples are; Hebrews 13:17a “Obey your leaders and submit to them”, Exodus 22:28 “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.”, 1 Thessalonians 5:12 “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you” these are a couple of many examples.

The fear of God is always good and the fear of death and losing loved ones and similar things to this is normal and there is nothing wrong with this.

When does fear become bad? The fear of men is often depicted as a snare in Proverbs 29:25. When fearing man gets in the way of fearing God a major problem occurs. Often in my own life I let the fear of man overcome the fear of God.

I won’t share the gospel because I fear getting into an argument, making things uncomfortable, or just because I just don’t want to. The fear of man is probably the main things that stops people from sharing the gospel. I’ve done evangelism trips, and in them it hard for me even then to get over the fear of men.

Another example of this is worship. I am very guilty of this. I don’t raise my hands even when I feel the spirit and feel the urge to because I am fearful of what people will think of me.

Fear of men also gets in the way of stepping up for what is right. Have you ever seen someone get bullied and just went along with your day? Have you ever denied your faith or acted against your beliefs to try to fit in or be cool?

In our culture today we often fear men more then God. Why is this? We fear men but not the creator of men. We deny our creator just so we don’t get bullied? This generation needs to step up for what is right and not get sucked in to the thought that we need to please men rather than God.

Do not be afraid is the most used phrase throughout the Bible occurring around 365 times (varies depending on the translation). We need to pay attention to this. Don’t be afraid of men for God is with us. What is the worst thing that can happen if we fear God.

We might get bullied, we might feel a little uncomfortable but when we fear men instead of God we miss out in standing up for what is right and doing God’s work.

Are you going to continue to live in fear or are you ready to step and fight for what is right? Are you going to fear men or God? Are you ready to start a rebellion against what society thinks is, ok? Or are you still afraid? Afraid of man who can do nothing to the soul but only hurt the body.

Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” Fear in the Lord and be safe from trying to please an evil world. Fear the Lord for it is the beginning of wisdom. There are only two options.

Are you going to continue to live your life with the fear of man controlling your every move or are you going to leave that behind and live your life fully dedicated to serving God and pleasing him rather than men?