I Appeal to You
... through Bertha Dudde  - 07.01.1949 

4534   The right kind of teacher .... Truth - Error ....

People must hand themselves over to a good teacher if they want to be taught correctly, so long as they don’t come to Me Myself for schooling. They could be instructed by Me directly at all times, yet they would lack the knowledge of this as well as faith. Consequently, they will have to receive the knowledge from somewhere else and need only make sure that the instructor knows the truth and is able to teach them correctly. Being instructed in the truth must be very important to them, therefore they must investigate the origin of the teacher’s knowledge; they should first clarify the relationship the teacher has with Me. Hence, they must first believe in Me as Creator and Father of eternity, they must inwardly acknowledge a Deity and make an effort to get to know this Deity. This is the first condition or hardly anyone would try to penetrate spiritual knowledge. A distinction must be made between people who allow themselves to be instructed and those who want to be instructed .... The first let themselves be pushed into a school without resistance, they let themselves be seized by teachers looking for subjects to whom they want to impart their points of view. The latter look for their own school in order to receive knowledge, and they are serious about attaining the truth. I will come to meet these seekers and guide them to the right teacher. However, since My adversary also wants to gain your soul he will not miss the opportunity to let representatives of error cross your path. Anyone who seeks the truth will also come across incompetent teachers, and therefore indications are given to you that you should conduct an examination in order to entrust yourselves to the right teachers and how you should do this. And again it should be said that your attention must first be drawn to the teacher’s attitude towards Me, whether he spiritedly advocates My Word or whether his lips merely pass My Words on, which is very quickly recognisable for the serious seeker, since the repeat of the living Word ignites the listener’s heart, whereas the lifeless Word is tiring and puts people off listening. Although someone with a hunger for truth can also derive some benefit from this dead Word, he will nevertheless feel dissatisfied with such teachings so that he will expect more, then he should give in to this longing and look for a different teacher. But teachers who inspire people’s keen debates, who repeat My Word animatedly and cause a positive response in people’s heart, whose bond with God can be recognised by their kind and loving nature, are true representatives of My Word and in possession of truth. You can trustingly hand yourselves over to them, they will teach you correctly and contribute to the fact that you will soon establish heartfelt contact with Me and thus can be instructed by My spirit directly, either mentally or through the inner Word. The origin of their knowledge might well be the same with both teachers, both might have gained the knowledge through study, and yet their teaching ability will differ and therefore their knowledge will also be either of purest truth or interspersed with errors, depending on their maturity of soul. For this reason you must always pay attention to the teacher’s way of life, to what extent the human being follows Christ, that is, to what extent he is permeated by love for his neighbour, which will characterise his entire nature and will always be recognisable, because love does not hide itself. Truth can always be found where love is present because it cannot be gained academically; instead, it can only be gained, recognised and taken possession of through the working of the spirit, which is the result of a life of love. And thus it can always be noticed whether a teacher expresses his own thoughts or merely words which have not yet found the right response in his heart and therefore cannot be repeated spiritedly. Test the teachers and choose a suitable teacher for yourselves, for you will come into contact with both. The right ones will lead you to Me, yet the others will not be prevented from approaching you because you can and should decide for yourselves if you seriously want to be taught the truth ....

Amen