Self-Control

[felicityinHIM]

Hi there. Well, this is incredibly uncomfortable. I stumbled on the idea of female masturbation less than a year ago and I have been struggling with it ever since. I know it is not honorable, I know God does not approve of it, I know that Christians are called to be as blameless as possible, and yet I cannot keep myself away from it for longer than a month. I don't have any strong Christian friends to turn to; one girl does know, but she is only just starting to practice her faith rather than simply say she is a Christian, and she sees nothing wrong with it. My parents don't know; they know I am struggling with sin but I have not told them what, nor do they ask, which I am grateful for. Every once in a while I am able to stop, but in the end I slip up again. I know one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control, but I am so sorely lacking it at the moment (speaking of which, self-control would also perhaps help me stop procrastinating on my five-page essay instead of facebooking all the time...)

I know I sorely need self-control, but it seems so difficult to obtain! I have been praying about it, reading the Bible, but I'm still struggling. Can anyone give me any advice? Should I perhaps have an accountability partner?

One more question: Does reading erotic literature (not watching porn) count as sinful behavior? I'm guessing yes, but I just figured I'd ask.

Thank you in advance for the answers.

 

[Johnnz]

Elsewhere on the Forum yo uwill find long threads on masturbation, with those saying it is truly sinful and others saying its not. It is a divided issue, so some reading might be worthwhile before reaching any final conclusion.

Erotic material. Welcome to the world of active hormones. A general interest is sex is completely normal as a young, sexually mature single person. A very large number of young Christians of both sexes discover sexual material, so easy today with the Internet. There are two important issues here:
a) There is plenty of nasty stuff out there, such as porn That is always wrong for a Christian.
b) Sexually orientated material is not necessarily wrong, (Song of Songs is very erotic fro example) but some cautions are needed. Unneeded sexual stimulation can add to one's sexual struggles. That is simply not wise. We need good sexual information so as to develop healthy attitudes and values. Because we can be easily aroused sexually at times as a single person, even a good textbook can be 'erotic'. Hmmm. Guys and girls have a mutual attraction which does have a sexual , hormonal basis included in that, by Divine design. Thus we cannot be asexual as a single person.

So, some clear thinking to do.

John
NZ

 

[RuthD]

I can see this is very troubling for you. Maybe you could find things to keep you busy so that your attention is diverted. I'm praying for you.