Claim. We pass through the physical world to grow into God’s true children — owners of our own faith — rather than robots.
Elaboration. The pastor poses the puzzle: if the point is to be with God, ‘why don’t we go straight to heaven?’ (Transcript, 56:35–56:46). Her answer leans on the Principle’s growth period: ‘we need to grow … to really truly be God’s children, to actually have a relationship with God. We have to choose it and we have to mature ourselves if we’re going to resemble God, because we have to be owners of our own faith’ (ibid, 57:06–57:24). The dignity at stake is self-authorship: ‘God wants us to have that pride and that dignity of having created ourselves, not being just robots’ (ibid, 57:24–57:30).
Significance. Growth through the physical world is what makes love freely chosen rather than programmed — the condition of a real relationship with God.