I’ve mentioned before that I think it could rightly be said that in the Old Testament, the attitude that most reflects vibrant spiritual health is the fear of the Lord.
Consider this statement from Proverbs 9:10 —“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” That sounds to me like there is no true wisdom possible to us without that deep regard for the Lord. But what does that mean in the light of the fact that there are a lot of truly wise sayings to be found in virtually every culture and religion around the world?
Perhaps one way to look at it is that from God's perspective, wisdom is more than a pithy statement or observation. It has to do with how we treat other people, and that in turn is founded upon how God sees them.
From anything I’ve read, Christianity alone affirms the intrinsic value of people to God. That is to say, each person is infinitely precious to him so much so that he laid down his own life to bring them into a friendship with himself. Consequently, to possess wisdom is to constantly work at doing justice to God's view of those around us. They are so important and precious to him that we tremble at the very thought of failing to adequately affirm their value to him. That is, we “fear the Lord”.
