Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/1091

1091 Outer behaviour of the human being.... inner life....

September 13, 1939: Book 20

A person's external behaviour does not always reveal his spiritual state, and spiritual aspirations do not always have such an effect that they allow outsiders a clear insight into the person's inner life. And thus people often draw the wrong conclusions, the behaviour does not seem to unite with what the person is actually striving for and may therefore often lead to wrong conclusions. And yet such a concealment of the true fact is likewise permitted by the lord so that people will endeavour to make a just judgement and not exalt or judge a person according to what is outwardly apparent. Anyone who, with the intention of serving the lord God, always endeavours to bring outward actions into harmony with all inner feelings will hardly give the world any cause for deliberate deception.... The more clearly and freely a person shapes his inner life, the easier it will be to regocnize his whole life on earth on the outside, and accordingly his fellow human being will be driven to attain the same spiritual maturity, for he will now clearly regocnize the influence of good spiritual strength...., on the other hand, whoever hides himself, i.e. does not allow his fellow human beings to see his true soul image, also runs the risk of being misjudged and his earthly task will be correspondingly more difficult to solve, since the spiritual powers are not available to him who closes himself off in the same proportion as is the case with an earthly child who also outwardly fulfils every commandment of love. Therefore, people who also outwardly prove their piety are far more likely to be accepted with faith, for a person often only grasps it when the deep meaning of all actions can be regocnized. However, anyone whose actions completely contradict the commandments of neighbourly love can never be of divine origin and the effects of his actions will never result in the ennoblement of his fellow human beings, instead, the number of those who despise and condemn his actions will increase, and consequently such a person will not be or will be little suited to revive the laws of love for God and his neighbour among mankind, for if his own actions do not correspond to this highest commandment, he will also find few fellow human beings who will endeavour to imitate him, and therefore the word applies here too: "By their fruits you will regocnize them....", and you should always bear this in mind if you have doubts about the value of man....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers