The fear of man

I think, as people, we have an innate desire for approval (love, respect, appreciation, etc.) and a complementary fear of condemnation (or of rejection, inadequacy, being ignored, etc.). While the fear is most likely a result of our fallen state, born out of feelings of shame and guilt that would have been completely unknown to Adam and Eve before they disobeyed God, I think the desire of which it is the negative manifestation may be a good and natural part of how we are created. Most of the virtues that apply to our daily interactions with others - things like love, compassion, gentleness, submission, encouragement, and so on - involve giving some positive form of acceptance, approval, love, or respect to others, and if we weren't made so as to desire and appreciate those things, giving them to others wouldn't be as important!

However, like all the other good things in us, this desire can also be twisted by sin. We can begin to want some sort of applause or recognition for ourselves, or we can become competitive in our desire - wanting more approval or love than anyone else. In short, we begin to make the gratification of this desire the source of our security and identity. And it was never meant to fill that role! Our desire for the approval and love of other people was always intended to come second to our desire to love and obey God, but ever since Adam chose to seek the approval and love of his wife when it came in conflict with his love and obedience to God, we have struggled putting the two in the right order. But when we are able to do so, we find that when God is first and our hearts are resting in and seeking Him more than the approval of other people, there is peace, security, and a new energy to positively impact other people instead of always seeking to take from them the praise or respect we needed to satisfy that other desire. Proverbs, as usual, says it the most succinctly:

"The fear of man brings a snare,
But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be secure." - Proverbs 29:25