Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/7843

7843 Acquisition of spiritual knowledge....

March 6, 1961: Book 82

To possess spiritual knowledge is only possible in a certain degree of maturity of the soul, i.e. it must have ignited (awakened) the spiritual spark within itself through a life of love, which now also opens up its understanding for spiritual knowledge, otherwise the human being only reads dead letters which give him no light. To possess spiritual knowledge is therefore already proof that the human being is on the path to ascent.... It is proof that he has already entered into the bond with God, that his spiritual spark has received that knowledge from God Himself which is inseparably connected to the father-spirit from eternity. But anyone who possesses spiritual knowledge cannot be idle, he will use his knowledge, he will constantly strive for increased knowledge, and he will also try to transfer his knowledge to his fellow human beings because he feels that he represents the right knowledge, that it is the truth and that this truth will bring blessings to himself and also to his fellow human beings. And therefore every person can consider himself fortunate who has gained spiritual knowledge which is understandable to him, which provides him with answers to questions which could not be answered by human beings. For this person no longer believes in a merely earthly life, but his thoughts are now often spiritually directed and his way of life is also carried out according to this spiritual knowledge. The human being strives to live in love, to enter into God's will.... inwardly strives towards God, he begins to despise the world and its goods and only uses them as far as the preservation of the body requires. But he knows that life is not an end in itself but a means to an end.... Yet he first has to be introduced to spiritual knowledge.... His intellect must first occupy itself, and then it is up to his will whether the knowledge, which is supplied to him from outside, penetrates the heart and takes root there. And only then can this knowledge become spiritual knowledge and increase, which, however, always presupposes a life of love which the human being can lead on the basis of divine commandments but also of inner impulse, and then his knowledge will increase accordingly from within.... through the working of the divine spirit which rests as a spark in every human being's soul. But if the human being has no spiritual knowledge at all his earthly life has been in vain so far, it has not yet brought him any spiritual success, he cannot register any degree of spiritual progress, he is still completely in darkness because the light in him has not yet been able to shine, because the spiritual spark has not yet been ignited and therefore it is still night in him. And this state is worrying for the human being, for it proves his spiritual low, it proves the uselessness of his earthly life so far and the danger he is in if he does not change.... which can only happen if he lives a life of love. Love is light, and love gives light to man.... Love awakens the spiritual spark to life, love connects the human being and thus also his spirit with God, and love therefore brings him knowledge.... And this is why you humans are constantly admonished to live a life of love, this is why the divine commandments of love are constantly held up to you, which Jesus gave you and exemplified to you when He lived on earth and which will always be the most urgent thing for you if you want to ascend in your development as long as you live on earth.... Without love no human being will attain wisdom, i.e. the spiritual knowledge which corresponds to truth; and without love there will be no maturing of the soul which shall shape itself such that it can enter the kingdom of light and beatitude after its departure from this earth.... For it shall attain realization on earth, the spiritual darkness shall already fall away from it on earth, it shall attain light, it shall gain knowledge which informs it of all correlations and which will also make it happy, because it will only now enter the original state again in which it was in the beginning...._>Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers