Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/5144

5144 Development is a matter of free will and not God's arbitrary use of power....

June 4, 1951: Book 58

The divine spark in the human being is his signpost on this earth, for it impels the human being to do what is good and cautions him against evil actions and thoughts.... yet only gently so that it can, but need not be, heard and felt because it does not push itself into the forefront, instead, it expects a person to listen within in order to be perceived. Therefore it first requires the person's will again in order to become aware of the gentle voice within. Therefore the will comes first and all other blessings take effect accordingly, which also includes the manifestation of the divine spark in the human being. The will, however, is free, it is not forcibly influenced neither from above nor from below.... neither God nor His adversary determine the resolve of a person, yet according to his free will they exert their influence. This needs to be particularly mentioned because it entirely changes the eternal Deity's image, Which is love in Itself, when it is taught that the direction of will is determined by God, when it is taught that the human being cannot use his will freely but that the direction of this will depends on God's grace and mercy. The fact that the human being is offered the opportunity to test his will and to prove his God-inclined will at all is definitely an act of divine grace and mercy, yet of what use would the human being's life on earth be if his will were curtailed and his development on earth were entirely God's work, that is, if its success or failure were determined by Him.... A teaching like that gives rise to doubt in God's wisdom and love and therefore can never correspond to truth. The human being undeniably always carries the admonisher within, God's mercy is always recognisable, for this gentle voice is a gift of grace too, a helpful means to impel the human being to where he should land according to God's will.... yet it is left entirely up to him how he uses the gift of grace, otherwise the admonisher within the heart would sound so loudly and perceptibly that it would have to be heard and the person would subsequently forcibly act as is demanded of him.

The human being has free will.... that is of greatest significance for his spiritual development and can never be denied; nevertheless, words can be misunderstood or misinterpreted if the necessary understanding is lacking regarding the human being's actual task on earth and which goal he ought to attain. Anyone who knows this also instantly recognises the error of a doctrine, even if it is advocated as being of divine origin. God's love and wisdom must always be emphasised, everything must demonstrate God's love and wisdom, and where this can be doubted the divine origin is missing from a teaching, for God, Who wants to be loved, does not present Himself such that He must be feared.... A God, Who courts His living creations' love in order to make them eternally happy with His love, will not present Himself as a God of wrath and tyranny and nip all love for Him in the bud. Try to find the right meaning and don't judge according to the letter, for the letter kills but the spirit gives life. But where the spirit of God is at work all veils are lifted and every person filled by God's spirit will also understand His Word....

Amen

Translated by Heidi Hanna