I Appeal to You
... through Bertha Dudde  - 20.12.1950 

5024   ‘Whoever loves his life shall lose it ....’

The will to live means guaranteed victory over death .... Admittedly, you cannot prevent bodily death, but even physical death can be the transition into life if the human being’s will is strong enough for him to gain eternal life. This will to live has My approval, even though I said the Words ‘Whoever loves his life shall lose it, and whoever loses it will gain it ....’ Anyone who only thinks about how he can preserve his physical life will very soon realise that he is completely powerless and taken from this earth without being able to oppose it. Thus it is not this kind of will to live which will enable someone to be victorious over death ....

The soul’s true life has to be desired, and the human being’s will has to use all its strength to acquire it, then there will be no more death for the person for eternity, then he will live in light and strength and be able to be constantly active for his own happiness. Then he will have truly conquered death, and the soul’s separation from its body will be an awakening into new life, unburdened by the physical shell, free from all matter and yet with an inconceivable abundance of strength. This is the life people on earth should learn to love and only endeavour to gain one day, then they will long for their death, then they will want to relinquish their earthly life for the sake of true life in eternity. But people are still far too attached to their bodily life, they fear to lose it, they love earthly life and therefore will lose it and their fate will be death.

And again, not physical death is meant by this but the death of the spirit, into which the earthly life-loving soul will descend without fail. This death is worse than a human being can imagine, for he will then have lost himself, he will have lost his earthly life and his soul will be without light and strength, totally helpless and in profound darkness .... Spiritual death is an indescribable torment for the soul because it is conscious of itself, thus it is aware that it was not obliterated at the moment of death but continues to exist in an agonizing condition. The desire for pleasing activity can only ever be fulfilled by the living soul, for this requires strength which is only inherent in a living being, whereas a being without strength is dead.

However, what the human being accomplishes on earth with his inflowing energy of life need only consist of worldly activity, which will certainly increase material commodities but they are worthless in the spiritual kingdom .... Or it can consist of spiritual activity, which will produce everlasting treasures and thus also guarantee a life in eternity. And for this reason, the human being’s will should seriously strive towards eternal life, so that he then utilises his energy of life for the acquisition of spiritual strength .... then he will be victorious over death, then eternal life will be certain for him and he will not taste death for eternity ....

Amen