Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/8612

8612 The decision of the will involves a degree of cognition....

September 10, 1963: Book 90

Only in the stage of free will can you make the last decision for Me or for My opponent, because before in the bound state you are still without I-consciousness; your will is bound, and you act in the law of compulsion; you are determined by Me and My will to every activity. But as man you are again the I-conscious being, which you were in the beginning, only at the beginning of your embodiment still without knowledge; you are completely blind in spirit. But a free decision of will presupposes a degree of knowledge: You must know about Me and about My opponent, should you decide for one of us. Only then you can be called to account for this last decision of yours. You can now reach a degree of knowledge in different ways; knowledge can be supplied to you, you can be instructed about spiritual things.... You can listen to My word everywhere where it is offered to you, and you can think for yourselves because you possess the gift of the ability to think during the stage as man. A small light is always kindled for you men from Me, only it depends on you yourselves whether you accept the light or resist it, that you close the eyes and want to remain in darkness of spirit. But you do not remain during your earth life as man completely without knowledge about a creator, because whether you also want to deny an essential God, so you still cannot deny His works of creation, and these creations already will stimulate your thought activity, but for the success you are already responsible yourselves. Again and again you will also be reminded of a God and creator in thought.... You can acknowledge Him just as well as you reject Him, and that is just your free decision of will, which you are to make during earth life and which you can therefore make, because knowledge is also always brought to you from Me, to which you can now open yourselves, but also close yourselves.... It is also always entirely up to your will what kind of way of life you lead.... Every person has a silent admonisher within him, which stimulates him to do good, but which he can also ignore if he is not prepared to live well on earth.... Every person comes into situations in life where he can render services to his fellow human being, and again it is up to his free will whether he now helps him or his heart is hardened.... Every man knows it from himself what is good for him and what harms him.... And he should act accordingly towards his neighbour, then he practices love, and then a small light will already shine in him, which lets him understand what was incomprehensible to him before.... Through works of love alone he already gives his free will the right direction, and he inwardly turns towards Me and away from My opponent.... Therefore every man can make the right decision, and therefore he also has to answer himself one day, how he has used the last stage of his earth walk, which was given to him for the last free decision. A certain degree of knowledge is therefore necessary, and I will make this possible for every man, if I do not call off a soul already in early infancy, before it could come to knowledge, but then also certain reasons are present, which you once will grasp yourselves, when you are allowed to take a look into My plan of salvation as perfected and will be able to determine the many different degrees of maturity of the souls and their reason. But this is said to you for your reassurance that I keep the right schoolhouses ready for all, which are suitable to guarantee all souls their further development.... and that I certainly know where and how a soul can best be helped to reach its aim. But who wants to reach the last perfection as man on earth, to him truly also all opportunities are offered for it, and to be able to take his last free decision of will, I will always stand by him, because I long for the return of My creatures, which I want to receive as My children into My kingdom of light and happiness.... But since My adversary also still has a right to every soul, the human being must decide for himself whom he wants to acknowledge as his lord; he cannot be forced by Me or by him, yet as soon as he has just a spark of love in him he will also decide in favour of Me, for with every act of love he escapes My adversary's power, who is devoid of all love and can only be defeated through love alone. And that is decisive in the life of a man, how he adjusts himself to the commandments of love for God and neighbour.... If only he makes an effort to live in love then he will be saved for time and eternity...._>Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers