Is touching yourself a sin? (2)

tonysma said:

You could answer this question yourself, simple..Everybody knows when they do something wrong...reborn or not....Does it feel like sin to you...to ask such a question you most likely have some urges or thoughts...if it feels like guilt, it is guilt..guilt=wrong=sin.....

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ugh who has the answer?

Dyin2live said:

ugh who has the answer?

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I suppose it is true that nobody has the answer but left hanging that way is not good. Everybody has their own answer, right, wrong or indifferent.

It seems clear to me that lust is a sin.

It seems clear to me that masturbation is not a sin(it is not even in the bible)

It seems quite clear to me that if you lusting while masturbating, the sin is lusting, not masturbating.

Well I know that touching yourself is a sin for me. Why because I cant find anyway around it. People have done really good jobs in the other thread of discussing why touching yourself was a sin because it is connected with lust. They are partners in crime, guilty by association. however A person reading this thread is probably going to be a guest that ran a search through goggle, and probably he's having a hard time. I know the first time i saw this thread, and this site was 3 months ago . Yet today I want to give advice instead of continue an argument and beat the proverbial dead horse. For me touching yourself is a daily battle, when Jesus said we must carry our crosses daily, boy I you see that scripture in action when it comes to this area of my life, I didn't think he was so serious about it lol. The enemy constantly bombards us with opportunities to lust, everywhere!, its almost as if we cant get away from it. TV perhaps, but i need the internet, to take online courses, and you guys don't know how easy it is to just type in a couple letters followed by a .com.. I almost came to the conclusion that the only way to stop myself from masturbating was to castrate myself, as the bible said, if my right arm sins better to cut it off right? lol, well I had some consideration for my future wife that I didn't do that. There are many roads to touching yourself, I use to keep a journal of why I failed to stop myself this day and that day. I even made connections and found patterns. But it was useless, I also found out history repeats itself. I'll tell you this, I even tried to touch without lusting, lets just say it didn't work, and I only found myself in an awkward position and well...finished the job. I am not cured from touching yourself, instead i carry my cross daily, and constantly ask god for help, and to keep things away from, and to give me strength, and authority over my fleshly desires. It is only that way that you can stop, and with everyday it gets a little bit easier. But you can never be too carefull, because your never cured, its a huge setback, to go 7 months, and get careless and wind up back to square one. Heres the thing you can think of it as going from square 1 to square two, to square three the next day. You have to start on square one everyday minus the touching yourself. I will write down some tips that i learn that will help you from falling, but remember constant pray and fellowship with god is the only solution. I traced back the reason I touch after the 7 month liberation, it was because my walk with god was deteriorating, and the bible says, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light. So if your not going the right way, your going the wrong way. If your not struggling to get closer to him, your going off the path, and then your just a sitting duck for the enemy. In any case I hope this helps brothers.
1)Stay away from pornography, this may sound dumb, but things are bombarding you without your control, to then why make matters worse and do it to yourself. Trust me "just looking" doesn't work. If you start down that rode your going to finish it, playing that game is like playing with fire, you will get burned.
2)Do not try and touch without lust. Your just putting yourself in a bad situation you don't want to be in. Its bad enough that the enemy might sneak lusty images in your mind while your praying or in church, what makes you think he wont do so, when you have your penis in your hand? Not only that if you some how manage to avoid those thoughts, what are you going to do when your sitting in your bathroom for 5 minutes and nothing happens. Its harder to pull your pants back up and walk away, then to.....Trust me.
3)Look away
4)whats going on in your Christian life? If your masturbating you're most likely not going down the right path, get on the right path! You know what to do.
5)When you start going down the proper path, don't try and do it yourself, you cant. Ask god for....allot, anything you can think of that will help, for starters;strength,and also a good one might be to take this burden off of you, and for him to carry it.
6)Don't stop talking to him! Thats the utter worse you can do, if you feel ashamed and don't feel like you should be talking to him, don't even think about stop praying. You're letting touching yourself come in between you and the lord, and thats horrible. If your distancing your self even further away from god, how the heck do you think your gonna stop yourself on your own.
I hope that helps guys. Also I noted that people kept on writing at least in the old thread, that this topic should be off limits to everyone thats not an adult. Seriously teenagers are the ones who need to see this the most They are going through an incredibly hard time in their life, when everything is changing, and their hormones are raging! They're eyes start opening to this new world, they are the ones who are going to start to experiment, let them see this, so maybe they can stop it before it starts or at least before it becomes an uncontrollable problem.Wen I first started I was a teenager, and i didn't know it was a sin. In fact when i first started i felt ashamed because i didn't know how, and a lot of my friends were In fact i would actually lie and say i touch. Well it didn't take to long to do it right, and what hinted me off that it was a sin was the horrible feeling i got afterwards, which i believe was (and is) the holy spirit telling me somethings not right. I never masturbated for another year and change, when my relationship with the lord started to crumble, then as my relationship got better touching yourself actually just went away.I don't even remember things exactly , i just remember one day i thought to my self "hay i don't do that anymore." We'll seven must after that i began to touch again, and well i began a long hard struggle against it. It was so depressing, and it was very disappointing. So yeah guys, teenagers must read this, heck there might be some 15yr old kid that goggles "I's touching yourself a sin" Guess what guys, this is the first site on that search list...I know for a fact........

A well-thought-out post, Ketidkat, and I can tell you're sincere when you talk about how hard this issue has been for you. Keep in mind, however, while we all have our crosses to bear, they are not all the same. For you, it is lust and masturbation (some people can separate the two, some can't, just the way it seems to be). For me, lust isn't too much of a problem, usually, and I can and do separate it from masturbation. However, I have other ongoing struggles of my own. For example, I tend to exhibit an astounding capacity for not doing my schoolwork or studying when the subject doesn't interest me, despite the fact that I know it's important to do well and stay motivated in school. This may not sound like much to those who've never dealt with such a problem, but it has been an immense obstacle in my life, and has resulted in me having to repeat a class and almost being held back from graduating from high school, despite the fact that I'm an Advanced Placement student. Fortunately, I'm only just starting college, so it's not too late to fix things, and I'm making slow but steady progress, but there still is and I suppose always will be that voice in the back of my head saying, "this isn't worth the trouble of doing, why bother?"

Anyway, the point: take a step back and analyze yourself (this going to anyone who may be reading this thread). Being honest with yourself, if you think you have a problem with masturbation or lust, by all means, take Ketidkat's advice. If it's not, don't stress yourself out worrying about sins you haven't really committed. Instead, focus on what you CAN say is a problem for you and work on solving that problem. And, as always, pray about it, no matter what it is or how stupid or inconsequential it seems to you.

Gal 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

Clearly masturbation is a desire of the flesh.

Gal 5:17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
Gal 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
Gal 5:19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,
Gal 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
Gal 5:21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

We all have natural desires, desires that you have mentioned are innate within us. It is completely natural for me to desire a lot of things, but they are prohibited in the bible. The spirit of God within born again believers wants the opposite of what our innately fleshly desires want.

So my stance, yes, masturbation, the tool to which people release their fleshly desires is a sin whether or not you do it with lust (I personally do not think they can be separated, but thats another issue). I'm definitely not trying to be a jerk, but it really doesn't matter what we want to do. Our bodies are the temple of God "Therefore, glorify God with your body".

Lastly if there is anybody struggling with masturbating and wants to be released from it... go to www.settingcaptivesfree.com. They have a great course which I did a couple of years ago when I was struggling with this. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free".

Jay0 said:

Gal 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

Clearly masturbation is a desire of the flesh.

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Clearly, it is in a literal sense, but then again, so is good food, but I'm quite sure you don't speak out against the culinary arts, do you?. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If you're going to interpret "desires of the flesh" to mean any desire or enjoyable activity that happens to be based in the physical senses, then you must condemn and shun them all, rather than singling out sexuality as most tend to do.

Gukkor said:

Clearly, it is in a literal sense, but then again, so is good food, but I'm quite sure you don't speak out against the culinary arts, do you?. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If you're going to interpret "desires of the flesh" to mean any desire or enjoyable activity that happens to be based in the physical senses, then you must condemn and shun them all, rather than singling out sexuality as most tend to do.

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I'm not interpreting "desires of the flesh" to mean any desire or enjoyable activity... Clearly from the following scriptures there are certain types of lusts, activities that are natural in origin and spiritually wrong of which we can rationally deduce that masturbation is among. Is it expressly stated?.. no, but neither is sniffing cocaine.

In denying ourselves on this Disciples path we are required to abstain from sexual sin, though it is a natural desire. To equate this to a cheeseburger for dinner or food which is NECESSARY TO LIVE is not consistent with the scripture. It is clear from the scripture that Jesus ate, but there is NO mention anywhere of Jesus masturbating or succumbing to any of the other "desires of the flesh".

All in all you have your convictions and I have mine and we'll both have to answer to God for our lives. Honestly, please don't take offense to this but IMO I think that people just like to touch and they find excuses on why it is allowable.

I find the way in which food and lust/touching yourself are paired, almost without fail in this find of thread quite interesting, especially considering that many of the early Church Fathers paired gluttony and lust in much the same way. It seens to be a near-universal Christian association. But whereas the ECF used that association to teach the deprivation of fleshly passions in both, people here seem to be using it in exactly the opposite way - to reccomend moderate self-indulgance in both.

Not sure eactly what that means yet - just found it interesting.

Llauralin said:

I find the way in which food and lust/touching yourself are paired, almost without fail in this find of thread quite interesting, especially considering that many of the early Church Fathers paired gluttony and lust in much the same way. It seens to be a near-universal Christian association. But whereas the ECF used that association to teach the deprivation of fleshly passions in both, people here seem to be using it in exactly the opposite way - to reccomend moderate self-indulgance in both.

Not sure eactly what that means yet - just found it interesting.

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Probably just a matter of which side is the one raising the ethical/moral question and which one is responding. A role reversal for the two sides of the debate, in other words. What that means, I don't know, but it is indeed interesting.

Jay0, no offense taken, and in a sense, you're right, though I certainly don't see the defense of masturbation (at least not in my case, I can't speak for other people) as trying to "find excuses." I'd be a liar, however, if I claimed to believe masturbation to be some basic human necessity, and a fool if I really did think it. It's an enjoyable activity for me, nothing more. I could go without it quite easily; I simply have yet to see a valid reason to do so.

Now, I am afraid I must ask you in return to not take offense to what I'm about to say, as I mean no disrespect at all, but there is something interesting that I have observed. I have noticed that a great many of the people in this thread arguing against masturbation have also admitted that they have had serious difficulties with masturbation addiction in the past. Perhaps this is merely coincidence, but it could also be that your personal experiences have colored your judgement on this matter (which is by no means criticism, since we'd have to be machines for our judgement to be fully independent of our experiences). I'm sure the same could be said to some extent of drinking alcoholic beverages or any number of other activities that have been the center of controversy in the Christian community.

The act is not a in, but the lustful thoughts often accompanying it are.

Gukkor said:

Now, I am afraid I must ask you in return to not take offense to what I'm about to say, as I mean no disrespect at all, but there is something interesting that I have observed. I have noticed that a great many of the people in this thread arguing against masturbation have also admitted that they have had serious difficulties with masturbation addiction in the past. Perhaps this is merely coincidence, but it could also be that your personal experiences have colored your judgement on this matter (which is by no means criticism, since we'd have to be machines for our judgement to be fully independent of our experiences). I'm sure the same could be said to some extent of drinking alcoholic beverages or any number of other activities that have been the center of controversy in the Christian community.

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No offense taken at all my brother. You definitely make a valid point, but my "battle" with this issue has been very limited. I took the www.settingcaptivesfree.com course after I had fallen to masturbation and pornography for a week and wanted to be pure. So, for me, my analysis of this issue has always been that masturbation was spiritually wrong. But it makes sense that people that have been "defeated" by masturbation and pornography would have a particular level of disdain towards it. But that doesn't negate the veracity of their arguments. Grace and Peace my brother.

I cannot believe this thread is still alive...looks like the fire would have gone out a long time ago...but i guess we just keep fanning it...lol Who would have thought masturbation would be such a hot topic..lol

"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people (Eph. 5:3 NIV)

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more (Eph. 4:17 -19 NIV)

Patrick Carnes, in his book Don't Call It Love: Recovery From Sexual Addiction, he says that "Americans spend more on pornograplhy in one year than the annual sales of the Coca-Cola corporation" The centerfold photographer knows how to sustain the illusion. So does the prostitute or the partner in an affair. They all feed into the fantasy that "somewhere there is someone who will love me perfectly." We are single/married and , lonely "It is not good for man to be alone" (Gen 2:18), and instead of turning to God for mercy or His love and comfort, the best we can do is try to dull some of our pain with some form of pleasure that is within our power to control. Sexual immorality works well. It creates a false sense of life and passion that for a few brief moments and allows us to escape the pain of our daily lives. And we seek to indulge our sexual passions to soothe the ache in our souls. In essence, we exchange the one true God for a false god, ourselfs.

LittleladyinChrist said:

"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people (Eph. 5:3 NIV)

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more (Eph. 4:17 -19 NIV)

Patrick Carnes, in his book Don't Call It Love: Recovery From Sexual Addiction, he says that "Americans spend more on pornograplhy in one year than the annual sales of the Coca-Cola corporation" The centerfold photographer knows how to sustain the illusion. So does the prostitute or the partner in an affair. They all feed into the fantasy that "somewhere there is someone who will love me perfectly." We are single/married and , lonely "It is not good for man to be alone" (Gen 2:18), and instead of turning to God for mercy or His love and comfort, the best we can do is try to dull some of our pain with some form of pleasure that is within our power to control. Sexual immorality works well. It creates a false sense of life and passion that for a few brief moments and allows us to escape the pain of our daily lives. And we seek to indulge our sexual passions to soothe the ache in our souls. In essence, we exchange the one true God for a false god, ourselfs.

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Yes, I'm sure that's quite a valid reasoning in regards to those who are addicted to sexual activity of any kind, not just masturbation. However, if you're trying to say that that's why anyone, anywhere ever masturbates (and let's remember, masturbation alone is the topic of this thread), I'm afraid I must strongly disagree.

Gukkor said:

Yes, I'm sure that's quite a valid reasoning in regards to those who are addicted to sexual activity of any kind, not just masturbation. However, if you're trying to say that that's why anyone, anywhere ever masturbates (and let's remember, masturbation alone is the topic of this thread), I'm afraid I must strongly disagree.

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Surely Im not speaking of everyone, everywhere masterbates because there lonely, or their looking for love, or their hurting, but come on, the vast majority of us do. Unless your just a horn dog. sorry.

LittleladyinChrist said:

Surely Im not speaking of everyone, everywhere masterbates because there lonely, or their looking for love, or their hurting, but come on, the vast majority of us do. Unless your just a horn dog. sorry.

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I suppose that might be true. Personally, though, I do it frankly because I find it enjoyable, and since I see nothing wrong with it morally (in case you couldn't tell that already ), my thought process basically amounts to, "might as well." Now, as with any fun activity, if I have something more productive or important to do, I certainly won't fail to do it because I'm too busy masturbating or anything or like that. So, then, while I wouldn't describe myself as a horn dog (and I'm the type of person that, if I honestly thought I was, I'd have no trouble saying so), I suppose that's the closest out of the reasons you listed. While I definitely think that people sometimes touch out of loneliness or what have you, I guess I just assumed that that wasn't the reason normally. May well be wrong, though. Hm, may be an interesting idea for a survey thread, though I'm not sure it would fly with the moderators.

I feel that materbation is a sin. I am battling touching yourself right now. I have gone 4 days without doing it and I feel great about myself. This is my 13th attempt and I know that with Gods Grace, I am going to win this time! I am so confident! I am just going to tell you my story, maybe that will show you if touching yourself is a sin or not.

I began masterbating when I was 11 in the shower. As I got older I would start doing it in my room and think "unholy thoughts". (During this time I was not a christian). Eventually, I started watching hard core porn and touch. As I got in my "later days of masterbating" (lol) My friends (a guy and a girl) we would go on the internet to look for techniques to touch, both on males/females. We began doing mutual touching yourself. Soon, I began to have an attraction with males because of the mutual touching yourself and we would touch and touch for each other.

By this time, I started going to church. I found God, and He first put it on my heart to not do mutual touching yourself. Slowly, he helped me become a heteorsexual again. Now I am a heteorsexual and attracted to girls again. Then He put it on my heart to stop masterbating.

Masterbating has caused me to think thoughts that were unholy, watching porn, thinking with lust, and even becoming a homosexual for a few months. God would not allow something that could lead to sin. If touching yourself was a gift from God, he would not let it lead someone to a place where I once was. Even though I battle hour long erections, pre cum from having these erections, and just stress, I know that I am doing what God wants. I know that I am doing whats right. Even though I am going through puberty and being a teenage boy, (we are hormone factories), God will grant me enough grace to overcome this evil. I know with God on my side I will not fail.

My story is how I am supporting my decison that touching yourself IS A SIN!! I pray for God to give strength to all those who are battling touching yourself, like me.

praisethelord44 said:

I feel that materbation is a sin. I am battling touching yourself right now. I have gone 4 days without doing it and I feel great about myself. This is my 13th attempt and I know that with Gods Grace, I am going to win this time! I am so confident! I am just going to tell you my story, maybe that will show you if touching yourself is a sin or not.

I began masterbating when I was 11 in the shower. As I got older I would start doing it in my room and think "unholy thoughts". (During this time I was not a christian). Eventually, I started watching hard core porn and touch. As I got in my "later days of masterbating" (lol) My friends (a guy and a girl) we would go on the internet to look for techniques to touch, both on males/females. We began doing mutual touching yourself. Soon, I began to have an attraction with males because of the mutual touching yourself and we would touch and touch for each other.

By this time, I started going to church. I found God, and He first put it on my heart to not do mutual touching yourself. Slowly, he helped me become a heteorsexual again. Now I am a heteorsexual and attracted to girls again. Then He put it on my heart to stop masterbating.

Masterbating has caused me to think thoughts that were unholy, watching porn, thinking with lust, and even becoming a homosexual for a few months. God would not allow something that could lead to sin. If touching yourself was a gift from God, he would not let it lead someone to a place where I once was. Even though I battle hour long erections, pre cum from having these erections, and just stress, I know that I am doing what God wants. I know that I am doing whats right. Even though I am going through puberty and being a teenage boy, (we are hormone factories), God will grant me enough grace to overcome this evil. I know with God on my side I will not fail.

My story is how I am supporting my decison that touching yourself IS A SIN!! I pray for God to give strength to all those who are battling touching yourself, like me.

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I may not agree with you, but judging from your personal story, I would say that what you are doing now is very much the right course of action, and I do pray for your success in following the path that God has put before you. You are quite correct. With God on your side, you can do anything. Just keep your wits about you and whenever you feel tempted, remember that this is completely a matter of choice. Choose not to touch, and there is nothing in this world that can compel you to do it.

You can get super legalistic about this but to me and my simple little brain it is simple. the act of masturbation itself is not a sin. The thought process of Masturbation is the sin. The fact that guys have wet dreams and the dreams are of them peeing on themselves and other things happen shows that God created up to cleanse. But in a natural way when we are asleep and unaware. so the act itself is not. There are FEW people in this world who can touch without thinking unholy thoughts. And if they can it is peeing with a kick as far as i am concerned. so great for them.... honestly i have never meet any of those people.