Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/6342

6342 Distress should inspire love....

August 31, 1955: Book 68

Everything helps you to perfection that stimulates love activity.... There must, therefore, of necessity, be miserable situations in life which cause the fellow human being to intervene in a helping way.... There must be need and misery, sorrow and suffering, so that serving neighbourly love can be practiced.... One must need the other, so that man can develop upwards through serving neighbourly love. Serving in love is the fundamental law which must be fulfilled if the human being wants to perfect himself. The human being first has to be educated to love on earth, because his actual nature is without love as a result of his past apostasy from God.... but the divine father's love has lowered a spark of love into every human being, which is now to be ignited in free will and kindled into a great fire of love.... But the human being's will first has to be stimulated, which therefore happens through the neighbour's adversity, which is meant to compassion him and cause him to work in love.... There is no compulsion whatsoever, the human being himself must feel touched by his fellow human being's adversity, and he must want to provide help of his own free will, which strengthens the inner fire of love and constantly seeks new nourishment.... In order for his own heart to be touched by his fellow human being's adversity, he will often be placed in the same situation in order to experience the adversity himself, and as soon as help is given to him, reciprocal love for the helper will also awaken in him.... Where there is love, there can be no need.... Unkindness, however, causes hardship.... Although love will never be practiced on earth to such an extent that the adversity could be completely remedied, because people's fundamental nature is precisely poor in love, if not entirely devoid of love, and the earthly life as a human being only serves the one purpose of educating people to love, because only love can reshape the being back to its original nature.... into the image of God.... Nevertheless, people could also create an easier earthly life for themselves by working with love.... through constant service in love.... because then they would also have much strength at their disposal to master everything now.... But every adversity serves you to perfection as long as it stimulates your activity of love. Wanting to help already proves the divine principle of love, then the human being has stepped out of the spell of the one who, devoid of all love, only wants your downfall.... You humans will all bless the adversity which prompted you to work with love, which gave rise to the ignition of the spark of love in you, and one day you will regret every missed opportunity which could have meant progress for you.... Only servant love will help you to ascend, and you would only rarely practice it if you did not see hardship around you and thereby felt addressed.... But you will not be forcibly influenced, only through your own adversity and help will the benefit of timely help be proven to you. And from this you will also see that adversity and suffering are also means of grace, that they have to be so that the human being will practice helpful neighbourly love, for the spark of love in you needs nourishment so that it can flare up into highest embers.... And only a bright flame of light connects with the original light of eternity.... which is the purpose and aim of your earthly life, that you unite with eternal love....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers