Its a two way street, it can get you into a lot of trouble or not doing it can do the same sadly in this day and age its not easy to avoid the sin of others, you can avoid watching tv and shelter yourself from most aspects of the world but there comes times when you will have to enter into it.
Stopping at the grocery store you can run into a guy bragging about his sex life and at the time it may not phase you but it starts a dripping in your mind that may eventually build up, or you can stop by the gas station as I once did an run into a temptation.
I grew up in a small church town with the beliefs that masturbation and sex without the intent of procreation was wrong, the women were taught that the male appendage was a very dirty and sinful part of man. When I came into contact with a girl I had a problem and felt very dirty for a simple act of hormones, I would have dreams that haunted me to the very core and wake up trying to hide my bed sheets, 2am in the middle of the night id be sneaking my clothes and sheets into the laundry.
In PE classes I would bump into a girl and she would feel exactly what was going on and resent me for it. I even had very embarrassing moments of release, being tackled by a female while playing football or having one fall on me and id have an accident.
It drew a lot of trouble in my later years when I worked at a summer camp, it was believed that the reasons I had these problems was because I was lusting after staff members and campers, being a staff was a badge of honor, the younger kids especially females would hang all over staff wanting hugs, piggy back rides, staff were expected to participate in events, capture the flag, football… While I never had a single sexual thought about them I could not control my parts, nothing I did could stop it. I kept feeling that I was further and further away from God, and I thought that I was without hope, I stopped reading my bible, turned away from God wanting nothing to do with Him.
Eventually a liberal pastor came to our dormitory high school and talked to us he told us that sexual impulses were natural, and said that if it is something you cannot control then masturbation was completely normal and healthy. He said it took practice to clear our minds, and I learned to take care of the problem whilst not thinking about anything that would hurt another. The dreams went away, and the problems stopped, I never had another accident and It enabled my thoughts of other women to become more pure.
For me it increases my resistance, and when a woman who is looking for the wrong thing from me tempts me I can have the self control and confidence to tell her "Im sorry, Im a christian and I don't believe in that, I believe in waiting for marriage" instead of being lost for words and showing her exactly what I am thinking. For those who can control impulses I am envious, and I wish that I had the power to avoid masturbating. But for some sadly sin gets in the way and at times can lead to a world of trouble.
Upon entering the world many of my friends ran into situations they could not handle, meeting a woman who pretended to be pure and when she touched areas the control was lost, sadly even the most devout fell into the trap of marriage by pregnancy, and many of the women were left as single mothers after meeting a guy who could make her feel incredible sensations.
I strongly believe that proper masturbation can benefit a Christian when struggling through this very sinful world.
