Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/0780

0780 Meaning of life.... faith and love....

February 18, 1939: Book 16

He who endeavours to fulfil God's will has fully grasped the meaning of life. He who recognizes himself as the creature of the father in heaven also knows that the father has given him a task for his earthly existence; he knows that he must do everything that the father's wisdom has decided, and he will now naturally subordinate himself to the divine will and strive to fulfil every commandment of the father. If he now places the fulfilment of the divine commandments in the foreground then he has also fully grasped the meaning of life and his earthly life will truly not be without success for eternity. Now the degree of love for the father will also always determine the seriousness of the striving for perfection; he will gladly and joyfully fulfil all commandments who is absorbed in love for God, and thus such an earthly child will also be seized by the father's hand and be drawn upwards by His love. Faith is therefore also rooted in the realization of his destiny on earth.... Man must first believe in a creator, in His love, wisdom and omnipotence and recognize himself as His product, then he will also grasp the meaning of life and, since he believes, also strive to live completely in accordance with the meaning. And so the natural consequence of this realization is that he will always view his whole life, his actions and thoughts in the light of this realization and make every effort to do what is God's will. For he recognizes himself as the child of the father in heaven, and if pure love for God underlies all of a person's actions, an intimate relationship is established with the father.... it is reborn to new life.... to spiritual life in the midst of the material environment. It now seeks and finds its saviour and redeemer everywhere, it frees itself from the power of evil by virtue of its love for the saviour, and so earthly life with its earthly activity is only the unimportant, self-fulfilling accompanying life of the actual existence. Man will strive with all his will for the greatest possible perfection.... for the most zealous observance of the divine commandments; and his zeal will already be blessed on earth in that the father will provide abundantly for His child, first and foremost spiritually.... but also does not allow it to starve earthly, as far as it is useful for the salvation of the soul. And so only those people are able to grasp the meaning of life correctly for whom earthly needs appear trivial and unimportant.... who are able to willingly and gladly separate themselves from matter and for whom the divine saviour is the epitome of all longing for love. For only the intimate relationship, the surrender to the saviour, will make the true meaning of life comprehensible to man.... Without the one, it will not be possible to grasp the other.... only those who always keep the goal of eternal life in mind will be able to truly fulfil their purpose on this earth. Anyone who is too much gripped and dominated by matter will still turn his love towards many things before it is solely and exclusively directed towards the divine saviour. And until then, striving for the top...., being absorbed in His will and fulfilling His commandments will remain an empty concept to people, for only love for Christ makes all of this comprehensible to us. Therefore, the earthly child always gives itself to the father in heaven.... it commits itself to Him with its full will if it has correctly recognized the meaning of earthly life, which is based on faith and love for Jesus Christ, the redeemer of the world....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers