BAHÁ'Í FAITH

Love and Fear God 

 

Baha’u’llah tells us to “…[f]ear God , O people, and be not of them that act unjustly.” (Epistle to the Son of the Wolf). We SHOULD fear God, but not because He is cruel, but because He is just. If we do wrong and deserve to be punished, He may deem it necessary to punish us. We must both love AND fear God.

 

We try to align our actions with God’s guidance out of love for His mercy and generosity, but fearing God’s justice also helps us to behave as we should in situations where we are tempted to do wrong. As humankind evolves spiritually, we will be motivated to act righteously purely out of love for God. Until then, the fear of disappointing God and shutting ourselves out from His grace helps us to remain focused on acting in good conscience, regardless of the worldly outcomes of our actions.