Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/6504

6504 Fight or serve....

March 18, 1956: Book 69

There can be no upward development without struggle unless love is kindled into such ardour that the human being now serves with love and then fighting is no longer necessary. But as long as the will to love is still weak the human being will have to fight with himself, with his desires and vices, for self-love is still too strong and defeating it requires a hard battle. And this is the conscious work of the soul which the human being should accomplish during earthly life.... As soon as he has reached a high degree of love all self-love in the human being is suffocated and he will only be devoted to his fellow human beings, he will serve in truth because love drives him to it.... But he will feel happy in this serving love.... As long as selfish love still dominates a person, it is difficult for him to understand that serving neighbourly love could make him happy, because he only ever wants to claim for himself what unselfish neighbourly love, however, voluntarily gives away.... But the human being's feelings and thoughts change when he has given up his self-love.... He now recognizes inner happiness in works of neighbourly love, it drives him to intervene in a helping way; the love in him is the driving force which he cannot resist, and all struggle with himself, with cravings and vices has come to an end and he will only ever work on himself in order to still discard all faults and vices which restrict the degree of love.... And he will also achieve it because the divine principle of love now prevails and because he will always be less oppressed by the forces which are without love.... which is why he now no longer needs to fight against the forces either, for his love repels them.... Fight or serve.... Only in this way can you develop yourselves upwards, yet this always requires your free will, for as soon as this is not ready you will succumb in the battle and increasingly deepen your selfish love, and then the adversary will have an easy game, then the ruling-willing principle will strengthen in you, you will take advantage of your fellow human beings and deny them all service of love, you will make yourselves a useful tool of God's adversary but never ascend.... You must not abandon yourselves to this adversary without a fight, nor will you ever be without strength if you sincerely want to defeat him, to defeat your own cravings and weaknesses, for this strength will come to you with an earnest will to achieve victory.... And then opportunities will present themselves to you where your helpful assistance is required, and once you have only practiced giving love without having a selfish thought, then you will also feel the inner happiness which is triggered by such an act of love.... All self-love is a part of your soul's enemy, and therefore seek to remove it from you, free yourselves from everything that still belongs to him, let pure divine love flare up in you which will make you far more happy than what you strive to attain in self-love.... Fight against all cravings within yourselves and perform voluntary services of love.... This must be said to you again and again so that you will successfully leave earthly life, so that your souls will mature for the spiritual kingdom, where only what they have done on earth in works of love will be valued.... And if it failed on earth it must try to achieve the degree of love in the beyond which will earn it beatitude, but this will be extremely difficult because it lacks the strength for loving activity which was abundantly available to it on earth, because then it will need much support and loving intercession which will earn it an influx of strength.... And if it then uses this unselfishly by helping the unfortunate, then it will also ascend, then it will no longer need to fight because it will serve with love....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers