To fear him

Attrition

So the next thing we do is to fear God, not because he is evil but because he hates evil, including the sins which we commit.  People often begin by being sorry for their sins and trying not to commit them because they are afraid of going to Hell.  This sorrow which is caused by fear of God is called attrition.  It is enough, certainly, to save our souls, but is a poor thing if it does not go any further than that.

Grudging service

For fear puts self first and does as little for God as possible.  People who obey God only because they are afraid of going to Hell if they don’t, will do the least for God that they think they can get away with.  They will grudge the time they give to God in their prayers or in church, or in doing Church work; they will grudge the money they give in the collection; and when they keep themselves from committing some sin, they will even grudge that because they think to themselves that, if it were not for God, they would be able to commit it.  And, of course, all the time they think of God like that, as a harsh Master, and of themselves as unwilling servants, their religion will have no joy in it at all.