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God respects our freedom. That is one of His choicest gifts to us. Without it we would be like slaves. He wants us to know Him and to love Him by choice, not by force; by desire, not by demand. Every choice is both an evidence and a test of our freedom. The tests bring to light our hidden selves. They show whether we are gold or mere glitters. They allow our souls to choose and reveal a given level of goodness and perfection. Some reach for the sublime; others for mediocrity. One drop out of the ocean of His bountiful grace is enough to confer upon all beings the glory of everlasting life. But inasmuch as the divine Purpose hath decreed that the true should be known from the false, and the sun from the shadow, He hath, therefore, in every season sent down upon mankind the showers of tests from His realm of glory.15 Baha'u'llah
(3:20)
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