208. (VIII.) Consequently the first of charity is to look to the Lord and shun evils as sins which is done by repentance. Who does not understand that, before a man can do good which is good, he must be cleansed from evils? Must not a cup be cleansed? And if it is not cleansed does not the wine taste of its uncleanness? And must not a platter be cleansed before food is placed upon it? For if the inside of a platter is mere uncleanness, does not the food excite aversion? Can anything pure flow into a man from heaven, while he is nothing but impurity and uncleanness? Must not the impure and unclean be first removed? If you fill your bedchamber with excrement will not the whole house have an offensive smell? Can anyone enter there? And if one should step in, does he not say, "I cannot," and turn from the house, saying, "This is for swine"? Before the Lord can flow in with good, evil must therefore be removed. It would indeed be perilous if He should flow in before, for the good would be turned into evil and increase it. For this reason the first thing is to remove evil, and after that to flow in with good, and bring it into act by the man. Whoever beseeches that he may do good from the Lord before evil has been put away by repentance, or without shunning evils as sins, prays for what is impossible, and for what would make him worse, since with the evil good is turned into evil, and so the good is profaned. That evil must first be removed is very evident from the precepts of the Decalogue. Does he who would kill a man, or indulge in hatred towards him, love him? He who commits adultery with another's wife does not love the neighbor. He who steals and defrauds the neighbor does not love him. He who slanders the neighbor does not love him. He who covets things that belong to the neighbor does not love him. These evils therefore must first be removed, and in proportion as they are removed the neighbor is loved. Of these matters Paul speaks [see Rom. 13:10]. But the question is asked, whether love towards the neighbor should be first, or whether to shun these evils should be first. Everyone may see that to shun these evils must be first. For man is born into evil; must he not then do the work of repentance?