Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion. 1 of 1. I often hear people explain the fear of the Lord as a mere respect or reverence. But the Bible uses the word fear at least 300 times in reference to God, so we make a mistake when we downplay it. The subject becomes even more mysterious when we read something like 1 John 4:18 that says that perfect love expels all fear..