I have been critical of the idea that Christianity is all about a personal relationship with Jesus. Don't get me wrong, it is true that to be a Christian is to have a personal relationship with Jesus. My problem before was that some Christians see themselves as having a pipeline to God. They don't have to listen to preachers, to other Christians in history, etc. They have their bible and hear directly from God. This God is usually only concerned about their personal fulfillment, and not about loving their neighbors, especially the helpless.

I realize now that sometimes everything has to melt away and look at yourself as standing right before God. People have many expectations of us and it will drive us insane if we think too much about what other people think of us and how we are conducting our lives. Not that it is not important what people think, but we must remember that God is ultimately the judge of our hearts. We must listen to his voice to help us know if there are any error in us, and then humbly acknowledge those errors to God and to others.   

I believe that when the bible says "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom", it invites us to let everything melt away and then invites us to stand before God with an open heart, ready to accept his correction and his forgiveness. Our "wisdom' is sometimes clouded by people's expectations of us. We act sometimes based on what others expect of us instead of acting based on what God expects of us. For example, we could be afraid of losing the friendship of someone who expects us to be supportive of him no matter what he does, therefore, we never question his behavior. However, to fear the Lord would require us to tell the truth about a friend's behavior, even if it means losing that friend. God must stand above everything in our lives. That is what it means to fear the Lord.