Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/5087

5087 World only means for the purpose.... overcoming matter....

March 18, 1951: Book 57

The world will never give you fulfilment, for in the end it will take away everything you possess of earthly goods. The world only considers your fleshly body but not your soul, and since the fleshly body perishes, the soul stands poor and bare at the gate to eternity if it has not created spiritual goods for itself on earth. The world only gives you in appearance, but in reality it takes away.... your right to eternal life.... You are indeed in the midst of the world, it has been given to you as a place to stay, so to speak, and the soul had to agree to spend a probationary period in this world. And it can also successfully pass this probationary period if the human being only regards the earthly world as a means to an end, as a means of testing, if he does not let it become master over him but always remains its master, if he does not make himself a slave to what surrounds him but always strives to overcome earthly matter in view of his earthly task, if he certainly uses it where it is at his disposal but in a God-ordained sense by helping matter itself to redemption..... if he regards everything earthly-material as what it really is.... directed spiritual, which likewise walks the path of redemption and is grateful for every opportunity for serving activity. Then matter will never become master over the human being, then he will seek something for himself which is more desirable to him because it cannot pass away. Then he will supply the soul with goods which signify true wealth and will remain with it even after the discarding of the body of flesh. In this realization the human being does not regard matter as the fulfilment of his desire, it is only a necessary means for him to successfully cover the earthly path, and thus the world with all its incentives and temptations also loses its value for him. He knows that they are only sham goods and at the same time a strong danger of also losing the imperishable goods. That is why you should not love the world, for this love will only result in the loss of eternal life; you should learn to recognize it for what it is, as the realm of God's adversary, as a conglomeration of immature spiritual things which would like to draw the already more mature spiritual things down to themselves again. You should learn to recognize it as deceptive light in order not to let your souls recognize the true light; you should know that the world will pass away one day and that you therefore have to strive for that which is imperishable. Then the earthly world will lose all danger for you, on the contrary, you yourselves will be able to contribute a great deal to also help earthly matter to ascend by creating opportunities for it to be of service, i.e. by giving material things their purpose by creating useful objects so that the spiritual in them will be of service and thereby progress upwards. Seek to guide everything to its purpose and, in doing so, first and foremost remember your own soul so that it frees itself from earthly desires in the midst of the world, so that it learns to recognize the spiritual kingdom as its place of origin and strives towards it again with the serious will to achieve the reunion with God, which is the purpose and aim of earthly life....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers