Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/7961

7961 Fight against ego love....

August 8, 1961: Book 83

Anyone who has overcome himself to such an extent that he is willing to make sacrifices for the sake of his neighbour has victoriously passed the battle against selfish love, and the neighbourly love strengthened in him will certainly lead him to perfection. Yet the battle against selfish love is difficult, it requires a strong will to overcome oneself if the human being is not driven to love from within by the dormant spiritual spark within him, which is part of divine love which is always willing to give. Then it will also be easy for the human being to carry out works of love, for then his being is already filled with love.... he follows the urging of the spirit within him, his being itself will become love, and he will also fulfil his purpose of earthly life.... Ego love will become ever smaller and the giving, gratifying love will fill him more and more; he will enter his earthly life (his original state) again, which was pure love. But where self-love is still strong and the human being is made aware of the divine commandments of love, the human being's will can strive to do what is right before God in His eyes.... He can therefore consciously fight against self-love, he can carry out planned works of love.... less driven from within than in the will to fulfil God's commandments.... Then it will certainly be a struggle at first, but that good will will let him emerge victorious from this struggle, for he will receive much support from God.... he will experience strengthening of his will, and again and again he will be offered opportunities to be lovingly active.... And he will acquire reciprocal love, and this will touch him inwardly and strengthen his will to love. And now the urge to be lovingly active will also become noticeable in him, he will not resist, and he will have passed the battle and his soul will mature. And thus the will's turning towards God is decisive.... This will will always express itself or prove itself through the fulfilment of His will.... Where the spirit in the human being can express itself early on, the human being will also be recognizable through loving activity, through a helpful, friendly nature which is always willing to serve. Then the divine little spark of love in the human being's heart can develop into a bright-igniting flame, and that means increased helpfulness and joyful service in love.... But the human being can also feel addressed by the word of God which is conveyed to him and which contains the divine commandments of love. He can believe that God requires love for Him and his neighbour, and then he can intellectually agree and make an effort to live as prescribed by God's commandments.... Yet his will must always already be turned towards God, otherwise even those teachings will not touch him and he will not feel addressed in any way when love for God and his neighbour is preached. It is certainly possible that he changes his mind through great need of his fellow human being and is ready to help. And then the fight against self-love begins, which costs a lot of effort and does not always end in victory. Yet such people with hardened hearts can be greatly helped if they themselves are shown much unselfish love which is capable of awakening love in return.... if they are helped out of hardship in a selfless way, if they are repeatedly offered love which they will feel charitably and which can also change their nature.... For the divine spark glows in every human heart, and as soon as it succeeds in appealing to it, it works itself from within with great strength.... Yet again and again the divine teaching of love should be proclaimed to people, they should know about God's will, and they should also experience the effect of a life of love as well as know about the failure of earthly life, that they can only become blissfully happy through love and that they therefore have to fight against self-love, because this is a wrongly directed love which hinders the human being's perfection, because it is the inheritance of the one who is devoid of all love and who is therefore also wretched until he, too, will change, until his nature has become love again, as it was in the beginning....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers