Many people have a problem with the idea of the fear of God. They think that   
   you should love God. It appears that we are called upon to do both.   
      
   What does it mean to fear God? It means that you don't want to make God angry   
   at you. You do not want God's anger. For an omnipotent being to be angry at   
   you can be quite a problem. So it is important not to provoke God's wrath.   
      
   That, is the meaning of the fear of God.   
      
   Is it compatible with loving God? Absolutely it is. There is no reason at all   
   why one should not love and revere at the same time. The love part in this   
   means, among other things, that you do not want God to be unhappy with you.   
   You love God and you want    
   to make Him happy. It breaks your heart when God is unhappy with you. So you   
   do what you need to do to make God happy.   
      
      
   Together, fearing God and loving God stand to lead toward righteous conduct.   
   Fear means that you don't want God to be angry at you, and love means that you   
   don't want God to be unhappy with you. Different people are motivated by   
   different things and at    
   different times in their lives. The people who are motivated by self-interest   
   are most lead to righteous conduct through fear of God, and the people who are   
   motivated by love are lead most to righteous conduct through love of God.   
   There is a large place    
   for both fear of God and love of God. So it is rightful that people both fear   
   God and love God.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)