You who love the LORD, hate evil!  Psalm 97.10

Spiritual Friendship
Aelred of Rievaulx (1109-1167)
“Worldly people falsely assume for themselves the outstanding name of friendship if they base their bond upon an agreement in vices, since he who does not love is not a friend. But he who loves iniquity does not love his fellow man, for ‘he who loves iniquity does not love, but rather hates his own soul.’ And certainly he who does not love his own soul will in no way be capable of loving the soul of another.”

If we cannot be friends of the world and also friends of God (Jms. 4.4), so we may not be friends with sin and true friends to others. If we are friends with sin we do violence to our own souls, thus undermining our ability to love and trust others at the most crucial point. Moreover, if we harbor sin in our hearts, God will not hear our prayers (Ps. 66.18). Cut ourselves off from fellowship with Him (and, hence, the source of friendship’s needed virtues, Is. 59.1, 2), we walk a slippery slope that leads to more peril (Ps. 73.18). Friendship and discipleship cannot flourish where we refuse to hate sin – hate it so much that we daily strive to eradicate it from our own souls, and are ready to help our friends do the same. We cannot love others except in the same way we love ourselves. And if loving ourselves means tolerating sin, then we will tolerate it in our friends as well. And this will be detrimental, rather than helpful, to their souls, and to their growing into the Lord.

How do you encourage your church leaders to practice vigilance against sin?

Pastoral Hope Initiative
Pastor, where are you in your walk with and work for the Lord? Are you growing? Covering all the bases? Working fruitfully toward the Kingdom of God? Our Pastoral Hope Initiative can help you establish a framework and baseline for steady, fruitful growth into the Lord Jesus; and for the remainder of this spring, we’re waiving the fee for men who want to work through this 14-week protocol. Watch this brief video, then, if you’re interested, let me hear from you at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The calling to make disciples
As pastors and church leaders, making disciples is our primary calling. But we need to make sure we’re growing as disciples, and that our tools for disciple-making are in top condition. Our book, Fan into Flame, provides an overview of the work of disciple-making, together with helpful assessments to discover areas where you most need to grow. Order your copy by clicking here.

The Fellowship of Ailbe is supported through the generous and faithful gifts of those who benefit from and believe in our work. Does the Lord want to use you in this way? Please look to Him in prayer over this question. You can contribute to The Fellowship of Ailbe by using the Contribute button at our website, or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452. Thank you.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.All quotations from Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship, tr. By Mark F. Williams (Scranton: The University of Scranton Press, 1994, 2002).