The Legitimate Fear Of God

"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil...." (Proverbs 8:13a, NKJV).
"Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another,
And the LORD listened
and heard them;
So a book of remembrance
was written before Him
For those who fear the LORD
And who meditate on His name" (Malachi 3:16, NKJV).

What does it mean to put the fear of God into someone?

The fear of the Lord and knowing Him go hand in hand.  Our intimacy with the Almighty depends upon our ongoing relationship as we learn to fear Him and give Him the reverence He deserves in every aspect of our lives as we give Him complete ownership of them.  Fearing God does include a healthy awareness that God can destroy both body and soul in hell, but we are to love Him at the same time.  

You can distinguish the two but not separate them because they are both necessary to a healthy respect and reverence.  We don't live our lives in terror of punishment but in view of God's benevolence and love. Love is a greater motivator than fear! Perfect love casts out fear!  

As A. W. Tozer said, "What we think about God is the most important thing about us,"  So we must have a doctrinally accurate view and interpretation--a saving faith entails correct or sound doctrine--we cannot have a false image of God or put Him in a box, as if we could label or define Him! God deserves our fear and no man does!  Without fearing God you can know nothing for certain and everything would be relative:  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge..." (Prov. 1:7a, ESV).

Fearing God recognizes the seriousness of sin and a quickened conscience that doesn't want to take advantage of grace.  Fearing God is also defined as having a sense of awe in much the way a child is awed by the world he is discovering and asks many questions out of curiosity.  Job 28:28 says, "... Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding."  

Indeed, to fear God is to hate evil or hate what He hates and love what He loves.  The closer we walk with God the more we learn to fear Him and don't want to abuse or take advantage of His grace.  God isn't looking for a people who serve Him out of fear, but out of love and if we do fear God in the right way, we have no fear of man. We don't become Christians just for a ticket out of hell!     Soli Deo Gloria!