Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/2267

2267 Voluntary kind-hearted service ....

March 18, 1942: Book 31

Continuous higher development is guaranteed as long as the being’s will is still bound; thus, as long as it still travels the path through the works of creation, because it is of service, albeit it is effectively forced into this helpful activity. Nevertheless, it is willing to be of service; otherwise it would not have been assigned its function. The willingness to serve is the first condition for constantly higher development. In the human stage, however, it is left up to the being again as to whether or not it is lovingly active. His soul has reached a state of maturity that the greatest shackle, the bound will, can be replaced by free will, but then he will no longer be forced into a serving activity but must accomplish it of his own free will, which will subsequently result in the soul’s higher development again. And therefore this stage also holds a certain danger for the human being, that is, for his soul, if it fails, if it does not use its free will for kind- hearted activity, on account of which God has arranged people’s life on earth such that they will need each other, in order to provide them with the opportunity to be of service to each other. This is truly not arbitrarily arranged, and the various living conditions serve the wise purpose of making it easier for a person to be of service. Admittedly, circumstances will force him to be helpful, but he can nevertheless refuse or accomplish the work reluctantly which, however, will be judged by God accordingly and will hamper the soul’s maturing. For only kind-hearted service will result in the soul’s degree of maturity and release it from its bound state. To all intents and purposes, human life is also a life of compulsion which takes place within the framework of natural laws, so that the human being very frequently questions his freedom of will. And yet the human being has much freedom, because he can think, act and want as he likes, and thus he can also infringe against the divine order if he has no control over his instincts and abandons himself to dark forces. The inner battle between good and evil is left utterly up to himself, and this will be more or less difficult for him depending on whether he is lovingly active, thus, whether he helps with love. Only his voluntary kind-hearted services will actually make him aware of his freedom of will, for only then will he recognise that he is by no means forced into doing it, that he is just as entitled to the same freedom of will if he wants to do the opposite. All lack of love increases the will to dominate, whereas every kind-hearted action increases his inner instinct to serve. And if this helpful activity is accomplished voluntarily and with love it will make a person happy, whereas serving under duress, that is, against his will, will exasperate him and arouse his inner objections. In that case the human being is controlled by the evil force which wants to prevent him from redeeming himself. This is why earthly life is a responsible one, because so many opportunities exist to be of kind-hearted service which enables the soul to redeem itself and these opportunities are not used accordingly. And the less people recognise and fulfil their purpose of life the more these opportunities will increase .... in order to awaken their sense of love in view of their fellow human beings’ immense adversity and to encourage their helpful activity.

Amen

Translated by Heidi Hanna