Loving God and Fearing God

Many people are under an impression that there is an inherent contradiction between loving God and fearing God. In fact both can lead to the same outcomes. If you fear God you do not want to make him angry, and if you love God you do not want to make him unhappy. In either case the outcome is that you are less likely to do things displeasing to God.

Some see fear-based upbringing as abusive. Matthew Fox says this especially about such Christian concepts as original sin, which is not even Biblical. Certainly fear of God – or of anything else – can be abusive. However that is not the only possible outcomes. Balancing this with love reduces the abusive potentials while also inspiring the person to better action. There are many supposed Christians who fail to do this; and this discredits their faith.

Some people will be more motivated by love, and others will be more motivated by fear. In either case, we will see people being more likely to do what is right by God.