Masturbation

[snowbirdling]

This was the wisest response so far:

All i can judge on is the things God has revealed to me in my quiet times. ...
But I have always felt convicted - and strongly. I dont know if it is right or wrong to touch in the eyes of God, all i know is that when I do - i feel distant from God and guilty. Hence my wanting to avoid it - I long to be in a close relationship with God and when things make me feel distant from him I avoid them.

It is exactly what you said at the end there: if there is anything that makes you distant from God, it should be avoided.

Also, just in general, I have absolutely NO idea how anyone could touch without lusting... is this even possible?! I do not know how that could be true for me.

That said, I think it's kind of too bad, I do believe we have sexual BIOLOGICAL needs, and if we are developing those many many years before being married, it poses problems. Does this make it ok though?

 

[Sunset2009]

Personally, I believe that the act in and of itself is probably not edifying, but isn't going to send you to hell, either. Lust, on the other hand, is of course a sin, but masturbation and lust don't have to go hand-in-hand. (no...pun...)

Now, I've never been married, but thinking about it now, I think masturbating would be disrespectful towards my husband? But I don't know, I guess.

 

[WiredSpirit]

Isn't it interesting how most people voted that it is okay, but it seems very few of those who posted said it was?

 

[snowbirdling]

Yeah, it's true. Personally I voted okay, but that's only at this point. I'm open to not thinking it is.

 

[Breakaway_republic]

I believe it is a natural thing that EVERYONE does at ONE point or another. BUT, when you begin to get temptations to do it [and get addicted to said act] that's lust.

 

[Kiwicee]

I believe it is a natural thing that EVERYONE does at ONE point or another. BUT, when you begin to get temptations to do it [and get addicted to said act] that's lust.

Oooh addiction. Thats a good point that hasn't been discussed! Is it a sin, even if you aren't lusting, but can't seem to stop?

 

[twob4me]

~~~~~~~~~~~MOD HAT ON!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This thread has gone through a DEEP cleaning and about half the thread was removed. We are going to allow the thread to be reopened providing that the replies stay to whether masturbation is a sin or not. If the replies get into the act itself the thread will be closed permanently.

Documentation of thread clean up is HERE for staff only.

~~~~~~~~~~~MOD HAT OFF!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[faatimahlove]

This is an issue me and my sister were talking about the other day too. How does one not maturbate without lustful intentions? When you close your eyes to do it, you always think about something that arouses you. There is no way out of it. The only way masturbation is okay is when you are married, and even then you are to keep your focus on your wife/husband. Masturbation is something that I thought was okay to do up untill two days ago, when I read "If you're right hand cause's you to sin, it is better to cut it off." Also that loving God is also about sacrifice.. this life is His, not to make your body feels good. You should wait untill God provides you with a man or woman to act out the act of love, self-stimulation is kinda perverted if you think about it.

 

[Apollo Celestio]

This is an issue me and my sister were talking about the other day too. How does one not maturbate without lustful intentions? When you close your eyes to do it, you always think about something that arouses you. There is no way out of it. The only way masturbation is okay is when you are married, and even then you are to keep your focus on your wife/husband. Masturbation is something that I thought was okay to do up untill two days ago, when I read "If you're right hand cause's you to sin, it is better to cut it off." Also that loving God is also about sacrifice.. this life is His, not to make your body feels good. You should wait untill God provides you with a man or woman to act out the act of love, self-stimulation is kinda perverted if you think about it.

Oh, what a morbid pun. xD Some people have awkward fetishes that are weird, but not necessarily lustful. Like, trees or something. It may be weird, but to claim weird things as sinful is dangerous.

 

[CrystalBrooke]

^I think masturbation is fine...BUT, even I think you're pushing it a little. I think those fetishes are rare..if they really even exist.

 

[faatimahlove]

Masturbation is wrong which ever way you look at it. Pople don't get off on trees, they get off on body parts and being stimulated by someone or something SEXUAL BETWEEN HUMANS. we're not talking about bestiality or people who like to have relations with trees or the groud. We're talking about humans who take it upon themself to "relieve" themself (and I think, taking their focus off the Lord even for a MOMENT could be DANGEROUS) or to experience feelings that should be felt when you're married.

 

[faatimahlove]

I am also not saying that I haven't masturbated or that I haven't had premarital relations, but I know enough to know that it's wrong. atleast it's not right for me. i'm not going to dispute anyones own interpretation of the Lord. I just don't think the Lord would be pleased gazing down to see me please myself one minute then trying to please him the next.

 

[Apollo Celestio]

^I think masturbation is fine...BUT, even I think you're pushing it a little. I think those fetishes are rare..if they really even exist.

Perhaps you need to explore the internet a bit more. I think it's gross (asexual), but there are as many fetishes as there are tastes. It's ridiculous. Precisely because of my asexuality is how I can understand it.

 

[mikeTHPS†]

only if your wife does it for you.

 

[josh81]

Here are my personal thoughts on it.

I see 'sin' in a grossly simplified but somewhat helpful way: the seed and the fruit. (I got this from Galatians 5:16 and James 1: 15 which talks about gratifying the sinful nature, which results in sin). A typical tree-planting process happens when you plant an apple seed, which results in an apple tree that bears apples. Similarly, a seed of sin planted results in sinful fruits.

To me personally, I start by asking myself on why do I touch - is it out of a healthy desire to honour God, or is it to feed my lust? Often I find that I waffle between two reasons to do the act: lust and, interestingly, selfishness ("I want to do it my way"). Regardless they both represent my sinful self, which suggests that my act is more often than not a sinful act.

That said, I do struggle with this area in my life still. Have to keep on fighting the good fight.

 

[charmaineisnt]

LOL @ Mikethps

 

[sylvianlight]

i feel that masturbation led me to watching extremely explicit pornography, not respecting women and prevented me from looking for a girlfriend.

from my experience in life i would say it is attached to lust, but maybe i just lack self control. proceed carefully. masturbation is like an addiction that can go really bad. sure some people drink alcohol and never become an alcoholic, but people who never drink alcohol obviously never become an alcoholic. it's best not to start.

 

[Riot Riot Riot]

Coming from someone who struggles with this issue very much, I will whole-heartedly say that masturbation is a sin.

In order to partake in the action of masturbation, one needs to become aroused. Now, I don't know about you, but in order to become aroused one is usually looking at or thinking about something that they REALLY shouldn't be. This is where the problem lies. Lust and lack of self-control are the 2 key components in this subject. When you allow yourself to be taken over by lust, you are showing a lack of self-control. And when you divulge in masturbation, you are also becoming sexually immoral, and we all know that the bible talks about sexual immorality COUNTLESS times.

Speaking from experience, masturbation greatly hinders one's walk with God. When I gave into those temptations and allowed myself to partake in that action, I found myself nothing but angry, dissatisfied, and depressed about practically every aspect of my life. This is what allowing sin into your life does: It slowly drains all hope and joy out of you.

Matthew 6:24 -- "You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both." ((Replace the word Money with any of your struggles. Be it lust, poor self-control, greed, anger, etc.))

Anyways, this is just my opinion on the matter. To truly find what you believe, I think you should do some talking with God and get HIS thoughts on the subject because, ultimately, HIS thoughts are the only ones that matter.

 

[Rhamiel]

Coming from someone who struggles with this issue very much, I will whole-heartedly say that masturbation is a sin.

In order to partake in the action of masturbation, one needs to become aroused. Now, I don't know about you, but in order to become aroused one is usually looking at or thinking about something that they REALLY shouldn't be. This is where the problem lies. Lust and lack of self-control are the 2 key components in this subject. When you allow yourself to be taken over by lust, you are showing a lack of self-control. And when you divulge in masturbation, you are also becoming sexually immoral, and we all know that the bible talks about sexual immorality COUNTLESS times.

Speaking from experience, masturbation greatly hinders one's walk with God. When I gave into those temptations and allowed myself to partake in that action, I found myself nothing but angry, dissatisfied, and depressed about practically every aspect of my life. This is what allowing sin into your life does: It slowly drains all hope and joy out of you.

Matthew 6:24 -- "You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both." ((Replace the word Money with any of your struggles. Be it lust, poor self-control, greed, anger, etc.))

Anyways, this is just my opinion on the matter. To truly find what you believe, I think you should do some talking with God and get HIS thoughts on the subject because, ultimately, HIS thoughts are the only ones that matter.

God bless you sister
may the Spirit of God bring healing to your heart
I am in the same boat as you, I know exactly how you feel, sin brings seperation between you and God, when I sin I feel the same way, it hurts the entirety of my being, and touching yourself is a horrible sin

 

[Themistocles]

Tough one. I'd say almost always yes. I'd agree with most everyone else that when you touch you're normally thinking lustful thoughts and those are, pretty incontrovertibly, sins. But I say "almost" always because I'm not really sure masturbation has to be accompanied by lustful thoughts. I try to avoid it because lust is nearly always there and you're usually kidding yourself if you think you can push the lust to the background but occasionally I've fancied that it's happened, unexpectedly, without lust. Only God knows what's in my heart though so maybe that's delusion too. In any event I think we're probably better off just seeing the whole business as sinful and avoiding it.