A:  Just in case you are not aware, you have written your question to our website that is dedicated to the teachings of The Urantia Book , a 21st century revelation that is meant for you, personally, and for all of humanity.

If the statement “God forgives” inspires you to do things that you know are wrong because you know that God will forgive you, I would have to ask—how’s that working for you?

From The Urantia Book:

(100:1.8) Habits which favor religious growth embrace cultivated sensitivity to divine values, recognition of religious living in others, reflective meditation on cosmic meanings, worshipful problem solving, sharing one’s spiritual life with one’s fellows, avoidance of selfishness, refusal to presume on divine mercy, living as in the presence of God.

In the above passage, it speaks of “refusal to presume on divine mercy.” Your question reveals you to be someone who is presuming on God’s mercy quite a bit—and it bothers you so much that you are asking for help. Right now, the person you probably need to speak to is your heavenly Father. The help you need will appear when you come to understand that what you are doing is not good for your spiritual health. But only you can pull yourself out of this pattern of wrongdoing.

I suggest that you have a look at this entire paper titled “Religion in Human Experience.”

Contrary to what so many people believe, seeking for, and actually doing the will of God is the best way to find real happiness in this life and beyond. God’s will for you is unending love, deep peace, and inner joy. Does deliberately doing the wrong thing and getting away with it provide that for you? Evidently not, or you would not be asking for help.

Nothing and no one can “make” you do anything. You have a mind of your own, and within that mind dwells an actual fragment of God himself. He lives within you and tries always to communicate with you by means of his “still, small voice”—to light your path and help you to do the right thing. You’ll be much happier, and feel less out of control if you make a decision to get to know your heavenly Father and sincerely try to find his will for you. Right now, your attitude is somewhat childish, and continuing in this path will certainly make it more difficult, as time goes on, to get onto a spiritually healthy path.

Since you seem to know at least this one attribute of God—his unending mercy—you might want to discover even more of his lovable traits. I suggest you get to know God better—start HERE .

Once you start on the adventure of finding your loving heavenly Father, it will become far easier for you to become the person you really want to be through your own decisions for truth, beauty and goodness. You have an important job to do in this life that no one else can do, and a goal to work for—immortality and eternal life. Stop wasting time in pursuit of unworthy things and step up to life in a more mature way. Elevate your thoughts, and strive for real value in the things you do and the way you think. It takes effort, but the effort is well worth it.—YOU are worth it.

And please—consider subscribing to our free Quote of the Day service which will give you daily inspiration to live your best life. You’ll see the “Subscribe” button in the upper right corner.”