Fear. Could it be a good thing?

So when one thinks of fear, it is not usually a good thing. Perfect love casts out all fear! God has not given us a spirit of fear. What is fear? Some say it is the opposite of faith. I think of it as a manner in which we have regard for something. We often think of things as either safe or dangerous. We have given it a label which in our mind tells us that we should embrace or avoid it. At the least we need to pay attention to when we cross the line. When we pass from safe to dangerous we ought to expect adverse consequences are near. Fear has to do with boundaries. Past a particular point, either there is unknown conditions or known adverse conditions. I am not advocating that we live a safe life--never venturing out beyond our comfort zones. But I think it is healthy to recognize that we all have real or imaginary lines which we have placed in our lives in many realms that we believe--if crossed either favorable or unfavorable results will likely come to pass. These boundaries should be considered and some should certainly be adjusted. Some as I stated are likely imaginary, ones we have extrapolated upon on other boundaries and now we consider these new extensions to be hard and fast though they have not had the scrutiny of the original boundary of which it was based. Then there is the fear of God. For those with Moses it meant that they should not go up the mountain with him. Why? God said. There would be adverse consequences. Death? Maybe. So why does that bring fear? We value our freedom to make choices. This is the basis that we can love. Love is a decision. So without the freedom to choose, we lose a sense of living. We lose the opportunity to love. This is only true however if we stay dead. Death is a whole topic to itself but certainly it is tied to fear. Fear of death and the end of fear being death is quite common. As we consider fear and death it is important to see these with reference to God's perspective. God sent Jesus to die for us. He died that we might live forever with Him. God both set the boundaries and made a way for us to cross back having transgressed the boundaries. Without God we have no set framework on which to base good and evil. With God we have boundaries and consequences for crossing those boundaries.