The Fear of The Lord is the Beginning of Knowledge

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  Here's the progression....I am scared of God punishing me (fear of the Lord), I study the Bible to understand how I can avoid that punishment (the beginning of knowledge) and as I study I learn how awesome and great His love for us is.  This has been a cool topic to discuss with the kids. I actually encountered several schools of thought on this idea over the past couple of weeks.  I'll share them with you.
1. God IS powerful but He is more about love.  If we just absorb the love of God everything else will take care of itself.  You won't want to sin anymore.  You'll just be so full of love you'll want to do what God wants all the time.
2. God IS love, but He is powerful.  He doesn't like our sin and it makes Him very angry and we don't want to make God angry do we? So be good and follow the rules or you'll make God mad.
3. If we just pound the Word of God into their hearts and minds we'll win them over.  We need to drive Jesus into them so they won't stray into sin.

The sad thing is, we've subscribed to all of these schools of thought at one time or another.  We've tried to teach our kids to love love love so they would be good.  We've tried to make them fear so they would be good.  We've tried to lecture and drill and pound the Word of God into them so they'll be good.  None of these methods have worked for us.  We are seeing kids who are growing up with these methods and some of them are starting to harden their hearts toward God.  My husband and I don't want that for our children.  Thus, we study God's Word to find His answers to our questions. 

What we're learning is this:For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).  God's Word can change the children's hearts.  We must not be afraid to give it to them.  I've been guilty of watering down the Bible so the kids aren't overwhelmed by it, but am I not accusing God of being to much for them?  Am I showing a lack of trust for God's ability to reach them where they are?  Am I not demonstrating to them that God's Word is irrelevant in their lives?  I really have to wonder.  As we put the word of God in front of them (quite literally, it's on a white board in front of them as they eat breakfast), we have to trust that God will reveal Himself to them.  As He shows up in their lives, we are here to pastor and guide them.  It's been cool to watch happen.  We're having some awesome conversations.  Romans 2:4b points out that God's kindness is meant to bring us to repentance.  God's kindness is meant to bring us to repentance! Not our lecturing, threatening, hammering, scolding, or yelling.  God's kindness.  It has nothing to do with me or my husband.  It will have everything to do with God.  I trust He'll be faithful to my children, and we open our home and our lives to allow Him that freedom.