Fear -- Motivator of the Unrepentent Heart

Fear is the motivation of the unrepentent heart. I come at this conclusion from a distinctly Christian worldview. I will not explain the Christian worldview at this time--maybe someday but I stick by my statement that fear is what motivates all people who have not cleansed of their sins by the blood of Jesus Christ as stated in the Holy Scriptures of the Christian Church.

Fear comes in two categories:

1. Fear of not getting something I desire
2. Fear of getting something I do not desire

Most people fear God because they believe God will not allow them to have what they want--their own will; or they fear God because they believe God will give them the thing they do not want--punishment.

If my will is not congruent with God's will then I should fear. Life is all about aligning my will--i.e., my desires--with God's desires. Once I do that then I have nothing to fear. Perfect love, the Scriptures tell us, casts out fear.

"Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, wisdom and instruction, which only fools despise" (Prov. 1:7) St. Augustine tells us that it is from fearing God that we first learn to recognize His Will: what He wants us to do and what He wants us to avoid. This fear should awaken in us a healthy reflection of our bodily death and possible spiritual death, if we continue to choose to run away from Him.

The repentent heart is one where I surrender to Jesus Christ and His will. When my will and God's will align I do not fear anything because now God's desires are also my desires.