Fear can be an excellent motivator. A couple years ago a member of my family was suffering from some heart problems. Knowing that heart problems run in my family, I took a cold hard look at myself and realized that I needed to lose weight, and sooner rather than later.
My motivator? Fear. Mortal fear.
As I got into an exercise regimen I realized other benefits, positive benefits. I felt better, had more energy, it was meditative, and all of the comments about my losing weight were a boost to my ego. Fear was eclipsed as a motivator by more positive motivations.
Likewise, while fear may be why some people initially get involved in improving their spiritual health, I don't believe that in the long run it is a good sustaining motivator.
In 2 Timothy 1:7 it says "God did not give us a spirit of fear, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline."
Bernard of Clairvaux, a monk of the 12th century, wrote of the "four degrees of love," which, succinctly, are:
1. We love ourselves for our own sake. We are born selfish and we look to our own needs first. But we begin to realize that the world is bigger than just ourselves and, further, that we are mortal, and so we turn to God and...
2. We love God for our own sake. We know that we are not sufficient and we must turn to God, motivated primarily by fear. But in our relationship with God we come to know God not as a tyrannical judge, but as loving and merciful, and so...
3. We love God for God's sake. We move beyond fear into mature love, where we are no long self centered, but other centered. And in this loving relationship we awaken to the knowledge that...
4. We love ourselves for God's sake. We move around full circle and see ourselves as beloved children of God.
We need to respect the fact that we all need to move through these stages at our own particular pace. And while we can encourage each other in God's spirit of love, we also need to be patient with each other and with ourselves.
Blessings in your journey.