XII. As for _love_ and _hatred_ in relation to thy neighbor, make the following distinction. It is but fit that thou shouldest hate his vices and crimes as the very works of the devil; but then, beware of hating the _person_ whilst thou abhorrest his _sin_. On the contrary, it is thy duty to bewail the case of thy neighbor, who, being carried away by so many irregular passions, enjoys no solid rest in his soul. Offer up his cause to God, and pray for him, as Christ did for his enemies, when he was nailed to the cross. Luke 23:34. Do not, therefore, hate any _man_, but hate his _vices_ only; for whosoever hates a man, and seeks his ruin, can in no wise be pleasing to God; since it is the very nature of God to be kind, and to desire that “all men should be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Tim. 2:4. This was also the end for which Christ took our flesh upon him. He came into the world, “not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Luke 9:56. XIII. Consider all men as being frail and imperfect, but none as more frail and imperfect than thyself; for before God, all men stand equally guilty, and there is no difference. We have all sinned, and have thereby been deprived of the image of God, and of all the glory which attended it. Rom. 3:23. How great a sinner, therefore, thy neighbor may be, never fondly persuade thyself, that thou art better before God. Remember this warning of the apostle: “Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.” 1 Cor. 10:12. He that makes himself the lowest of all men, is in the fairest way of being preserved, by the grace of God, unto salvation. And certain it is, that thou standest no less in need of the grace and mercy of God, than the greatest of sinners. Where there is a great measure of humility, there is also a great measure of grace. Wherefore St. Paul accounted himself the “chief of sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15); and it was in this order he obtained mercy, and had so much long-suffering bestowed upon him. And in another place he declares that he will glory in nothing but in “his infirmities, that the power of Christ might rest upon him.” 2 Cor. 12:9. XIV. True illumination is always accompanied with a contempt of the things of the world. As the children of the world have their inheritance here upon earth; so the children of God have theirs laid up above in heaven. The treasures which the children of this world have chiefly at heart, are temporal honors, perishing riches, earthly splendor and glory. But the treasures of the children of God are poverty and contempt, persecution and reproach, the cross and death, trouble and sorrow. Thus did Moses prefer “the reproach of Christ before the treasures in Egypt;” and the affliction of the people of God, before the pleasures of sin. Heb. 11:25, 26.