Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/7149

7149 Responsibility of parents and children....

June 20, 1958: Book 76

You start your earthly existence as a human being in complete ignorance. The soul is still shrouded in spiritual darkness because it first has to reach a state of self-awareness before it can get started with dissolving its dense surrounding cover. It can already do this without having received particular knowledge, for it can express its good feelings at a very early age even though it does not act in relation to a certain amount of realisation. But the human being always has to be cognisant of himself otherwise his thoughts and actions could not be appraised. Such a child develops its spark of love early on; it is good, because it is motivated to do so from within.... whereas another child in the same state of self-awareness gives in to bad impulses within itself, even though it feels a slight sense of wrong doing inside itself. In both cases one cannot as yet speak of realisation, but the spark of love is placed into every human being, and children's initial behaviour is therefore only different because their souls react differently to inner urges, but every child is nevertheless conscious as to whether its behaviour is good or bad.... once it has reached the stage of self-awareness.

And now the child slowly receives knowledge too.... it gets acquainted with the laws of order, that is, it begins to understand increasingly more, and it will also experience the effects of good or bad on itself.... it is taught the concept of good and bad, and again people will react differently as they grow into adults, depending on whether they kindle the flame of love in themselves and allow themselves to be influenced from within. And accordingly their realisation will either grow or the soul's initial blindness will remain, for the knowledge given to the person from outside need by no means become realisation, rather, it only becomes it when the human being's love brings the knowledge to life.... Knowledge can certainly satisfy the intellect, yet it will always merely be a deceptive light without strength to illuminate the human being's soul, and therefore the soul continues to stay covered by layers. The human being, however, will be held accountable from the moment he is aware of himself, from the moment he is able to hear the voice of conscience.... thus, when his perception of good or bad has awakened within him, which can happen sooner in one and later in an other child, but which is a prerequisite for its responsibility of its actions. Yet the weakness of a soul which has to give up its earthly life at an early stage is always taken into account. The degree of maturity as well as the knowledge the human being was given so far will always be considered. For complete realisation cannot be applied as a criterion, since this can only be gained through love.

The human being, however, is assessed according to his love, and this can be ignited into a flame in every person, but the spark of love can also be stifled, and that always also indicates adverse thinking and doing, which appear as soon as the person becomes conscious of himself as a being which can use its will and does so in line with its soul which is wicked and unwilling to love and which will also close itself to any given knowledge.... thus 'realisation' does not stifle this bad inner instinct. Only when a child can be influenced to do something good can this wicked compulsion disappear and the voice of conscience express itself more noticeably again, too.

For this reason parents carry an extra large responsibility, they should do everything to awaken love in the child, they should encourage it to carry out small helpful tasks and thus cultivate a sense of helpfulness in the children and stifle their excessive selfish instincts.... For as soon as the spark of love has been kindled it will also spread, and the soul will no longer be shrouded in darkness, the heart will become enlightened by itself, and then the child will already think and act consciously which will soon also result in the light of realisation, once it is given the appropriate information.... For love is everything.... and every human being is capable of love, because God Himself has placed into every human being a spark which is part of Himself in order to lead him from the state of death back into the state of life....

Amen

Translated by Heidi Hanna