Christian Character Comes from the Fear of The Lord (Proverbs 31) (Video)

The book of Proverbs starts out with the claim that, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 1:7)

What is this fear of the Lord that the Bible talks about?

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word yare doesn’t just mean “fear.” Yare also invokes emotions of awe and honor. In Exodus 15:11 Yare is the feeling of awe that comes from contemplating God’s character.

“Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome [yare] in splendor, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11)

God’s character is the source for each of the wise sayings in the book of Proverbs. When Proverbs encourages you to be trustworthy, shrewd, diligent or generous it is because God’s character is trustworthy, shrewd, diligent and generous.

The Bible praises the woman of Proverbs 31 because fear of the Lord roots her character in God’s character, rather than in other things.

“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)

When your character is grounded in the fear of the Lord, it changes how you work. You don’t strive to serve your own ends or to please other people, but instead you take actions based on God’s character.

For example, you can praise other people’s work rather than taking all the credit for yourself.

The fear of the Lord can also lead you to forgive your coworkers when they make a mistake or speak up about something that’s wrong in your workplace.

Living in fear of the Lord means you don’t need to live in fear for your job or your status.

What will you do in your work today out of the fear of the Lord?