The Gift of Fear

You don't get far into Proverbs before you stumble across it. Indeed, it is the first real admonition Proverbs offers us: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." (Prov. 1:7)

This is strong medicine. And we may resist taking it. It seems a lot easier to digest those short, sweet letters of John that tell us over and over again that "God is love."

But loving relationships can, maybe even must, include a dimension of fear. If we love someone, then we fear disappointing them, letting them down, and making decisions that will hurt them. Love without fear is elation without watchfulness.

We may even admit to fearing the judgment of those we love and who love us. My father had the capacity to be more than a little scary if you got on his bad side. But that was not because he ever became violent. Rather, it was because he had a way of silently conveying to you the full weight of his disapproval and disappointment.

That is the brilliance of this proverb. It recognizes the fundamental truth that love brings with it the fear of love's failings.

It is somewhere in this fear that we begin to move beyond ourselves. It is somewhere in this fear that we begin to put our hearts and minds on higher things. And it is somewhere in this fear that we begin to nurture the rare and wonderful quality that this book calls wisdom.