There is an expression that something or someone "put the fear of God in me (or him or her)." Although God does not desire for us to live in fear, a healthy "fear of the Lord" is needed when we live in a sense of reverent awe and wonder of God, but not afraid of Him so as to keep Him distant. We are to fear God because He is holy, blameless and perfect. The light of His holiness exposes us as sinful people. We can't do anything to live up to that holiness. In fact, we probably deserve to fear Him because we are so flawed. But God's only son, Jesus died for us, as a pardon for our flawed lives. We just need to accept that Jesus' death on the cross gained us the favor of a perfect God. Therefore we can live in a healthy fear of Him with a hope that we will one day live with Him forever.