1 Peter 1:17
“And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your sojourn in the world.”
After we understand that God is a Person with a will and plans, we must go further to realize that behind His will there are God’s “feelings.” In Genesis 6:5–6, the Bible records a moving and unsettling reality: when human evil became great on the earth, God’s heart was grieved, and He regretted. This verse reveals that God is not an impersonal, rigid force but a Person with feelings who can be disturbed by His creatures’ attitudes. If human conduct in general can affect God’s feelings, all the more our lives now that we recognize our status as God’s children.
We must grasp a key spiritual truth: how we respond to God’s will brings a response from Him. When we obey the Father’s plans, we please Him—a divine smile that brings us peace. On the other hand, disobedience is more than breaking a rule; it is a rebellion that hurts His heart. Such rebellion provokes God’s anger and sorrow. As God’s children, we cannot be careless or indifferent to His feelings. Living carelessly shows we do not truly know the Person we call “Father.”
Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 1:17 that if we dare to call Him Father, the logical consequence is that we should live with “fear” or reverent awe during our sojourn in this world. This awe is not the fear of an enslaved person toward a cruel master but the trembling of a child who loves his Father deeply and fears that his actions might hurt his Father’s feelings. Without such awe stirring the soul, we have not properly grasped our relationship with God. How can we be without reverent fear if we realize the Creator never leaves His creation, is present among us, and is responsive to our every action?
Awareness of God’s nearness and responsiveness should change how we view every moment of life. We live in a universe governed by a Ruler who is personal and has a will. He has great plans that we must take seriously. When we begin to internalize this closeness—that every breath and every decision is observed by a feeling Father—there will arise a profound reverent fear within us. This fear will guard us against deviant behavior and prompt us always to seek what pleases Him.
Having divine reverence is tangible evidence that we have been restored to our original dignity. A noble human is one whose heart trembles toward the desires of the Creator. Do not let our souls become dull and indifferent to God’s feelings. Instead, let us continually stir our hearts to be sensitive to the Father’s heartbeat. By living in this healthy reverent fear, we not only keep ourselves from sin but also build a living, dynamic relationship with God. This is an incomparable spiritual heritage: walking the earth with full awareness that each step affects the Father’s feelings in heaven.