To Fear Or Not To Fear? When Will Lent Be Over?

To Fear or Not to Fear? When Will Lent Be Over?

During Sunday school last week, we were discussing Lent. One of the participants expressed that while she was practicing Lent, she had a fear that in her attempt to sacrifice, she would be on the receiving end of God’s ire. Her reasoning was the passages in the Bible that tell us to fear the Lord. We talked about several scriptures that mentioned fear.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise fear and instruction. Proverbs 1:7

Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. Psalm 34:9

Before we delve into the conversation that ensued during class, I must share some Lent funnies with you.

“Hear me out, reverse Lent where we pick a new vice to crutch us through the next 40 days of nightmares.” Brent Coleman

“Once again my child has vowed to give up broccoli, a food he has never actually tasted, for Lent.” Anne Theriault

You can read more funnies here.

As our class began to discuss the fear of God, we started to find other passages of scripture that mentioned holy fear. As folks continued to share, many people were taught in their churches that anything bad that happened to them was a direct result of not having enough holy fear. To some, it caused them to step away from the faith; to others, it led to a feeling of walking on eggshells day in and day out.