Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/4045

4045 Faith.... strong wrestling....

May 20, 1947: Book 49

An everlasting inner struggle is necessary in order to attain strong faith, and this presupposes a strong will to be able to accept what teachings are imparted to people, i.e., to be convinced of its truth. A right faith can be gained, consequently it is also to be regarded as a gift, yet the human being must also be willing to accept the gift, thus again his will must participate, otherwise the human being cannot believe. Wanting to believe necessarily also results in being able to believe, the will alone is decisive as to the strength with which faith seizes it. In your deepest inner being you must gain the conviction of the correctness of what is demanded of you to believe, only then can you say: I believe.... But in order to be able to gain this conviction the human being also has to do a certain amount of work beforehand, otherwise this faith can never come to life in him. He must express the will to believe through his way of life, for the will alone, without the deed, is not fully effective and therefore not effective either. But his way of life should be an activity of unselfish neighbourly love. Through this he now connects himself with God, in Whom he is taught to believe. The connection with God lets him feel His nearness, he becomes aware of a strength which flows through him, even if he cannot express this feeling. But as soon as he is united with God through activity in love, the conviction will also arise in him that there is a being full of love, wisdom and power, and he can now consciously say: I believe in this being.... Then faith will have come alive in him. Furthermore, he must take a stand on all spiritual knowledge which is offered to him, which is demanded of him to believe. And again it is love which works in him that his spirit mentally gives him enlightenment from within about what he desires. Thus the thought material imparted to him is made so understandable to him by his spirit or the unacceptable is revealed to him that he can now either accept or reject with conviction, and then one can speak of living faith again. And thus faith in Jesus Christ as the son of God and redeemer of the world is to be understood in the same way, that the human being first has to receive the knowledge of it, that he has to mentally process it and then take a stand on it himself, that he can only do so if he practices love, if he follows Him, so that through love the spirit can develop which guarantees him right thinking; and fully consciously the human being now acknowledges Jesus Christ.... He believes in Him and now surrenders himself to Him in this faith.... Faith has to be won, the human being has to have the good will to be able to believe and now do everything that earns him a deep unshakeable faith.... And for this he must pray for strength and grace so that his will will not flag, so that he will walk on earth according to God's will.... as soon as he has already gained faith in God. God knows the slightest stirring of the heart, and where He finds the will which turns towards good, there He will also direct His grace which will then be accepted and utilized according to the person's will. But the will alone is decisive as to which measure of grace it uses, and the human being's will will also prompt him to pray, which will never remain unanswered but will secure him an increased grant of grace which guarantees his ability to recognize and thus his convinced faith.

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers