Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/1053

1053 God of love.... not God of vengeance and wrath....

August 13, 1939: Book 19

Do not presume to take the name of the lord in your mouth without having Him in your heart and to frighten the people to whom you want to proclaim the gospel with His omnipotence and His wrath. Mankind can only be persuaded to accept the gospel and stand in the right faith on the path of love of the heart, for only a God of love can give these commandments, which put love before all thought and action.... and only a God of love can turn mercifully to people and protect them from the danger of falling into the abyss.... and only a God of love has taken the work of redemption upon Himself.... only a God of love let the work of creation come into being in order to help all beings from Him and to one day lead them into the kingdom full of power and glory. And if you make mention of this God then you must do so with the greatest love in your heart, you must likewise lean towards your fellow human beings with the deepest love and preach to them about God's love and mercy.... You must never attribute the weaknesses and faults of humanity equally to the supreme being, you must not use such means to make people's minds compliant and thereby unroll a false image for them, for this only confuses the concept of the eternal deity. And if you are now to stand up for the word of the lord you only ever have to let love prevail, accept your neighbour with gentleness and peacefulness, lovingly instruct him, do him good and thus let the strength of love affect your fellow human being, and this will touch his heart, it will awaken reciprocal love and thus ignite the divine in the person.... And only in this way does man approach the eternal deity.... Which is pure love in Itself. But if you portray God as a punishing judge, as a God of vengeance and wrath, then only fear can motivate people to fulfil their duties and their actions are devoid of love.... Learn to understand that only love will redeem you.... give to your fellow human beings with full hearts and hands, do good to them constantly, bless them when they curse you, and make the world of hatred change to love.... Then you will live in the will of God, and the kingdom of God will have come down to you. And those who preach the gospel should endeavour to be peaceable and gentle in heart, for from them shall go forth light which no shadow shall dim, and so they must not make a spectacle of the world and be angry and quick-tempered.... For this weakens the fellow human being's will to love, the human being wants to be educated and persuaded to love in all love, and therefore you should practice gentleness and patience, you should always and constantly bear in mind the lord's heavenly patience on earth, and you should remember that the heavenly father's love and patience still applies to His living creations today and that only love allows all suffering to come upon people so that they will find their way back to Him.... And so you should only ever preach about infinite love and be active in love yourselves.... and you will bring souls to God the lord in great numbers....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers