“The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility.” Proverbs 15:33

“What are YOU scared of?” the man asked me. I was talking to a guy I did not know. Being a Jesus guy who knows EXACTLY where I’m going when I die, I replied accordingly, “absolutely nothing!” He looked at my left hand then said, “liar!” All I could think was, this guy is rather forward. THen he said, “you’re married.” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Then you’re scared of your wife!”

It took me a moment, and I scrunched up my face, seeing my beautiful wife in my head… all 5’2” of her. In a physical fight, which we’d NEVER do, I could take her out in about a second! So I responded, “no way bro!” His reply made me pause… “think about it!” So I did! And after a few seconds I had to admit… he was absolutely right!  My fear came home to roost yesterday.

Katie is picky about laundry and hates her nice clothes dried in the dryer. Me? I don’t care. I throw everything that will not fade into the washer and hit go! I did that yesterday with my white socks, shirts and underwear. When I pulled the load out of the dryer, I found 2 of her work shirts tangled among my undies! And I FREAKED! I shook them out, then tried to smooth them. But no luck!

This morning, after she took one of the shirts off its hanger and put it on, I had to verify the ‘all clear.’ I said, “That shirt looks good on you… I washed it for you yesterday.” “You did a good job,” she said, “I don’t usually like wearing white since it makes me look pasty.” I said, “Awww honey, you could fall into a VAT of paste and NEVER look pasty!” She had no idea I had meticulously ironed both shirts! WHEW!

I don’t iron well. If she sees me wearing a wrinkled shirt or pants, she’ll say, “here… let me iron that for you.” I can do a ‘quick press’ on the major parts that matter if needed. But I took my time on her shirts….  because… I’m scared of her! Like ‘Fear of the LORD’ scared! And I hope by now you get the point. ‘Fear of the LORD’ to a Believer is NOT life threatening. It’s more like disappointment.

Reverential Awe is the word my dad used when referring to ‘The Fear of the LORD.’ When I do what God commands and Love Him and my Wife, I am showing respect and honor. When doing so, I get SO much back in return because of THEIR love for ME. Both can make my life miserably sad when we are not well connected. When I do the work on MY part, I reap the reward that comes from them doing THEIR part.

Are you so lovingly in awe of God, and your spouse, that you make it your daily business to please them and make them proud enough to honor you in return? Marriage is simply the relationship God invented to prepare us an example of how we will relate to Him here… AND in Heaven. Do you regularly think of ways to love and honor God and those you love? If so… I know what YOU’RE skeerda!