What does it mean to "fear God"? The beginning of Biblical Wisdom | Jonny Ardavanis explains
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Jonny Ardavanis
4.9 • 902 Ratings
🗓️ 21 October 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
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Summary
What does it mean to fear God? And why is it essential for gaining biblical wisdom? In this episode, we dive deep into Proverbs 8 and explore the foundational principle that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
In this video, we discuss:
✓ What biblical wisdom really means (it's more than just knowledge)
✓ The true definition of fearing God and why it matters
✓ How the fear of the Lord transforms your daily life
✓ Practical steps to grow in godly wisdom
✓ Why wisdom is more valuable than wealth
✓ The difference between being afraid of God vs. fearing God
✓ How God's forgiveness leads to greater awe and reverence
Key Scripture References:
- Proverbs 8:1-11 - Wisdom calls out to you
- Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge
- Proverbs 9:10 - Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
- Psalm 86:11 - Prayer for an undivided heart
- 2 Corinthians 7:1 - Perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord
Whether you're facing difficult decisions, seeking direction, or wanting to live more faithfully, this conversation will help you understand why fearing God is the foundation for everything else in the Christian life.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I also think that we live in a world where people have put the fear of the Lord on the back burner of their life, and then they wonder why they're not growing in wisdom. |
| 0:08.2 | Yeah, they're not growing in wisdom and they have a small view of God. |
| 0:10.6 | You don't just become wiser by living. |
| 0:12.4 | I think people say that, you know, I've got a lot of years. |
| 0:14.8 | No, it's actually only the Lord that provides the wisdom that you and I need from his word. |
| 0:19.9 | What we're going to do in this episode, and maybe in a couple to come, I want to talk about biblical wisdom. |
| 0:24.4 | And we're going to do in this episode, and maybe in a couple to come, |
| 0:22.8 | I want to talk about biblical wisdom. |
| 0:24.6 | And we're going to look at really a big theme of the fear of the Lord. |
| 0:27.1 | What does it mean to fear God? |
| 0:28.3 | We maybe have heard that term before. |
| 0:30.6 | This is the first rung of the latter, |
| 0:32.9 | and you'll never get to the second regarding wisdom if you don't fear God. |
| 0:43.8 | Okay. never get to the second regarding wisdom if you don't fear God. Hey, everybody. Thanks for joining in. My name is Johnny. This is Dialin. Hank, thanks for |
| 0:48.2 | being here. Absolutely. Johnny, we have two things that we have to touch on before we dive in. |
| 0:51.9 | What? One, I have to apologize. |
| 1:14.0 | The Bears win. Yeah, okay, I was related. The Bears win. I made a promise that I would like every bear's comment, and I'm falling behind. You have to make a YouTube first. They're coming in so quickly. I can't keep up with them. And also, all those Minnesota Vikings fans trying to sneak in there, I see you. In the YouTube comments? Yes, they're sneaking in there trying to come under the cover of darkness. |
| 1:11.9 | But... Vikings fans trying to sneak in there. I see you. In the YouTube comments? Yes, they're sneaking in there trying to come under the cover of darkness. But anyway, I just needed to get that off my chest. |
| 1:16.9 | Hey, well, thank you all for continuing to listen to the show. One of the things that's helpful for us |
| 1:21.2 | is we dialogue through what future episodes to do. If you would drop a comment, maybe give us |
| 1:26.1 | some ideas of things that would be helpful, |
| 1:27.7 | topics, subjects, themes that would be helpful for you. One of the themes that we're thinking about |
... |
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