The Spirits' Book

Allan Kardec

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1000. Can we redeem our faults in our present life? “Yes, by making amends for them. However, do not assume that you can redeem them by making a few trivial sacrifices, or by giving away what you no longer need after your death. God does not value a fruitless repentance that is easily completed and costs no more than a mere smiting of the chest. The loss of a small finger while doing good for others erases more wrongdoing than any amount of self-inflicted torture undergone solely for one’s self-interest.” (See no. 726)
“Wrongdoing can only be atoned by doing good, and attempts at making amends are worthless if they affect neither one’s pride nor one’s material interests.”
“How can a person be rehabilitated by the restitution of tainted wealth after death, when it has become useless to them and they have already profited by it?”
“What benefit can people derive from the deprivation of a few futile pleasures and indulgences, if the wrongs they have done to others are not undone?” “What, in truth, is the point of humbling themselves before God, if they keep their pride before other human beings?” (See nos. 720, 721)

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