4. Fear of God

The fear of God is "the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 10) (2:252), without which man cannot attain the only true and necessary goal and meaning of earthly life – unity with God for eternal bliss with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. Moreover, a person who does not have this grace-filled fear in himself cannot preserve the image and likeness of God, given to human nature by God at creation. Without the fear of God, man loses his spirituality, departs from his Creator, and becomes carnal (Gen. 6:3). Only the presence of the fear of God in a person testifies to his spirituality (5:152), which in turn draws the mind and heart of a person to the correct knowledge of the true God (5:311). In addition, the fear of God, like a faithful guardian, always vigilantly guards the spiritual home of a Christian from all evil (2:253).

He is a great saving "gift from the Lord" (2:252), as God Himself says about it through the mouth of the prophet: "... And I will give My fear in their hearts, lest they depart from Me" (Jeremiah 32:40). In giving the saving gift of the fear of God to man, the Heavenly Father, however, does not suppress his will, but gives him complete freedom in the matter of building up his salvation. A person decides for himself: whether to accept this gift and turn to God, or, having rejected it, to distance himself from God and follow a disastrous path.

A prerequisite for receiving the gift of the fear of God is the presence of faith in the Lord in the human heart. More precisely, it is assimilated by a person to the extent of his faith, because only faith is characterized by true fear, thanks to which the believer turns away from all sin and iniquity. When faith fades away in a person, the fear of God leaves him, as a result of which the soul feels complete emptiness. In such a state, the soul is easily inclined to sinful impulses. But when a person realizes his weakness and restores in his soul the saving faith and fear of God, "then the soul is comforted, rejoices, rejoices, and shouts in spirit" (5:286). In this way, a person in himself experiences a close interpersonal connection between faith, the degree of assimilation of the gift of the fear of God, and his spiritual and moral state. If a person consciously accepts the gift of the fear of God with his heart and mind, with all his being, warms it up in himself, is affirmed and perfected in it, then this gift fills the heart of a person, penetrates all spiritual and spiritual activity and has a decisive influence not only on his internal state, but also on his external behavior (2:253). Such a relationship indicates the need for the active participation of man himself in the development and strengthening of this virtue in himself, in the creation of his salvation.

The general way for a person to assimilate the gift of the fear of God and develop it into a salvific virtue should be that man should constantly be aware of his sinfulness before God and strive to fulfill His holy will. As St. Tikhon teaches, at the lowest stage of development, the virtue of the fear of God is based on the awareness of the inevitability and inevitability of God's righteous judgment, on the feeling of fear, the fear of future eternal suffering for sins; God is perceived by man as only a formidable Judge and a punishing Rewarder. This initial abstinence of man from sin only out of slavish fear, out of fear of being punished by God for sins and of future sufferings, leads man to the attainment of filial fear of God. In this way, the constant avoidance of evil and sin gradually turns into a firm habit of pleasing God. And this makes a person capable of receiving the grace of God, which strengthens him even more in the virtue of the fear of God, teaches him not only to avoid evil, but also to do good (Psalm 33:15).

Further, man's slavish fear of God and His righteous judgment is gradually transformed into a sublime feeling of reverence for Him, into a feeling of filial, sincere, and heartfelt, unquestioning attraction to God. In such a soul, it is no longer the fear of punishment and suffering that forces a person to avoid sin, but the desire to be in unity with God (1:103). In this way, a person passes to the highest level of the virtue of the fear of God – filial fear. This feeling of filial fear of God restrains a person from all actions and thoughts that offend the majesty of God, from deeds and intentions that are not pleasing to Him, to His all-holy will (2:253). At this stage, the fear of God is for a Christian a treasure of the soul, a "spiritual light" that illuminates his life path, his soul, thoughts, deeds and deeds (4:379). A Christian recognizes himself not only and not simply as a creature of God, but as His child. For him, God is no longer a strict Judge and Rewarder, but an all-righteous, loving Father. However, a Christian should not stop at this stage of spiritual development. His filial fear of God, to the extent of his spiritual progress and under the influence of Divine grace, must grow into love for God and neighbor. The filial fear of God, therefore, is the pledge of God's supreme gift to man — perfect love, for only "the fear of the Lord... in the paths of love he makes" (Sir. 1:13) (2:252). And love leads a Christian into communion and unity with God, because "God is love, and abides in love, abides in God, and God dwells in him" (1 John 4:16). Unity with God is the true and only goal of man's life and spiritual feats on earth.

Thus, the spiritual perfection of man and his affirmation in the virtue of the fear of God constitute a single, indissoluble process, a single path of the journey to God.

For a person seeking communion with God, pointing only to the path of developing the fear of God in him is not enough. It is also important for him to know the means of acquiring and assimilating this gift.

First of all, it must be remembered that the fear of the Lord "is born and multiplied with the help of God" (2:254). It can be perceived and developed in the soul of a person of any age, but the most favorable time for this is childhood. A child's soul is not yet burdened with worldly cares and worldly vanity. She sensitively perceives the good instructions and exhortations of her elders, strives for everything good and sublime. Parents should remember about this feature of childhood; according to their Christian duty, they should make every effort to raise their children in the fear of God, instructing them on the path of salvation. "For the whole life depends on upbringing," says St. Tikhon, "and parents who do not bring up their children in the fear of the Lord will not escape God's punishment" (1:105). In one of the instructions to teachers of Voronezh schools, the Holy Father obliges teachers and mentors to teach children not only literacy, but also an honest life, the fear of God, since "literacy without the fear of God is nothing but a sword to a madman" (1:254).

A person who did not acquire the fear of God in childhood, but desires and seeks the salvation of his soul, must know that the fear of God is a gift of grace and in order to receive it, it is necessary to constantly ask God to send down this gift and to avoid sin (5:369). And, without a doubt, whoever spends his life holy, and believes in Christ with his heart, will feel the fear of the Lord in his heart in a short time (2:277). At the same time, it should always be remembered, the Zadonsk saint teaches, that the fear of God as a virtue develops and strengthens in the human soul only under the condition of an appropriate disposition of the Christian's will and his striving for a pious life. With a strict spiritual disposition, a Christian easily conquers sin in its very essence and becomes more and more strengthened and grows in the fear of God (5:369; 4:343).

An important means of strengthening the fear of God in the soul of a Christian is meditation "on the attributes of God" (2:255), His greatness, omnipotence, which teaches a person "everywhere and always to address the omnipresent and omniscient God, as children turn to their father" (4:343). Remembrance of God's attributes helps a Christian to always abide in the salvific fear of God, to have reverence for the Lord and to revere Him, it prompts him to constantly be vigilant in his soul and to eradicate harmful passions and vices. The worship of God "requires of us that we do nothing contrary to His will, that we say nothing not only evil, but also idle, and in our minds that we do not think anything contrary to God" (1:57).

Further, the fear of God is born and strengthened in the human heart from the knowledge of God's righteousness, which rewards each one according to his deeds, and from reflection on the terrible punishments of God that befell sinners in ancient times, for example, about God's punishment of Cain (Gen. 4), about the punishment of the human race by a flood (Gen. 7), about the fate of the Sodomites (Gen. 19), about the destruction of Pharaoh and his army in the sea (Exodus 14). about the death of Dathan and Abiram, who were sacrificed by the earth (Num. 16), about the death of Absalom (2 Sam. 17) and many other examples (2:254-255). Remembrance of these fates of sinners and of the fact that God, Who formerly executed for sins and now says to us: "... if ye do not repent, ye shall all perish" (Luke 13:3), will establish the fear of God in the heart of man.

A particularly powerful and grace-filled means of affirmation in the fear of the Lord is the hearing of the word of God (2:254), for from hearing it is born true faith in God, and where there is faith, there is the fear of God (5:152). The Word of God has always been, is and will be an inexhaustible life-giving source of salvation for human souls.

For the acquisition of the gift of the fear of God, there are also other grace-filled means, for example, prayer, fasting, repentance, communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, unity with the Church of Christ (2:254).