Blessed Are Those Who Fear the Lord

    In light of today's Scripture readings, I have decided to share my thoughts on what it means to fear the Lord and particularly how it is relevant to the beginning of wisdom. Usually, "fear" is not taken to refer to an emotional state of distress, worry, or anxiety toward something but rather a reverence toward the thing as we might revere our parents. However, although reverence may play a large factor in the fear of the Lord, I do not see fear and reverence as convertible. Fear, it seems to me, is reverence with a specific condition, i.e., fear is reverence toward a thing because of its standing toward the fearful insofar as the fearful might receive punishment from the feared. It is a recognition of one's own standing or relationship to the feared.

    Why is this the beginning of wisdom? To tell an anecdote, I have, for most of my life, been commended for my moral character and commitment to higher principles than the average person, and have been told that I am wiser than my age. This may be less true as time moves forward, as the distance between my age and wisdom seems to become smaller, but I digress. These commendations were not always the case, as I could be a rebellious, selfish spitfire as many other children can be. At age 12, I had a certain awakening of conscience wherein I recognized my own moral weakness and the real severity of moral depravity, and in doing so recognized my own capacity for evil.

    As I have said, fear is connected to negative consequences for the fearful, so to have fear of the Lord is to recognize that one may very well be subject to punishment for one's moral failings, but to recognize this is just to recognize one's capacity for evil, and recognizing your own capacity for evil is the beginning of wisdom, because to be wise is to place things in their proper order, and this includes putting yourself and your actions in their proper place, but one can only begin to do so if they have a knowledge of good and evil and an awareness of the particular temptations they are weak to. This is why it seems to me that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, such that the recognition of my own capacity for evil gave me better insight to action (a kind of wisdom) and was a cause for commendation from adults and peers alike.

    A short blogpost to be sure, but in conclusion, I only have this to say. In wisdom, have awareness of your own actions and how they affect others and yourself. In humility, recognize that you are not "basically a good person" and have much room for moral improvement. In compassion, remove the log from your own eye before removing the speck from your brother's, and judge not lest ye be judged. Thanks be to God.

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