St. John’s 21st Step, FEAR, is very confusing to many Christians since on one hand we are called to trust in God and then on the other hand we are called to “Fear God.”

I have often been questioned about the “fear of God” that we even hear about in our Liturgy. Many times people try to soften the call to fear God by saying that the better word is “awe” instead of fear. We are called, they say, to stand in “awe” of God. I must confess that I too have been guilty of trying to soften the word “fear” since true love of God cannot be governed by fear in the sense that we usually use it. In the Old Testament it seems that there was actual “fear” of God. He truly punished His people when they disobeyed His laws.

But the fear of God is not a paralyzing or timid fear. On the contrary, fear of God pushes us to do good, to repent and become more like Christ. This kind of positive fear is aptly expounded in the second-century Christian work, The Shepherd of Hermas. He wrote:

Fear the Lord and keep His commandments. For if you keep the commandments of God, you will be powerful in every action, and every one of your actions will be incomparable. For, fearing the lord, you will do all things well.

Unfortunately, in contrast to the teaching of Hermas, there are many Christians who live in fear of the devil, demons, magic and curses. This displays a terrible lack of faith. Such fear is truly contrary to God’s providence. The teaching of Hermas is echoed by many other Fathers: the demons have no power. They can only tempt and frighten, and have no power other than what God permits. When we fear them, we make them real and we give them power over us. When we keep ourselves focused on God and give God all power over us, demons cease to exist in a real way. They have no power over us.