Hello once again my beautiful family and thank you so much for taking out of your busy time to be here with us. Virtual hug time! 😃
So, today we're going to be talking about the infamous topic of 'masturbation'. Is it a sin? Is it not? Can christians masturbate? If a sin, why doesn't the Bible forbids it? Are there any benefits to the act of masturbation? I'm not hurting anyone when I masturbate, why would it be bad? What if I'm just practicing for the real deal, is it 'ok'? ... uufff, those and many MANY more are the kinds of questions I've heard throughout the years in regard to the topic of masturbation. More predominantly, though, these are the kinds of questions that many Christians tend to ask because there's confusion, overall, as to whether masturbation is or not a 'bad' thing to do or even a sin. After all, the Bible is not very clear at all as to the rules when it comes to the act... or is it? That's what we're here to do! First off, I'd love to hear your opinion; please feel free to comment at the end of this post as to whether masturbation is, or not, something that Christians should practice and why yes or why no.
Alright, let's get down through it and answer the question: "is masturbation a sin?". As always and as Christians, our guide is...?? ... You guessed it (hopefully), our guide is the Bible so everything we talk about and share will be solely based on Bible grounds. Deal?
Straight-up: Is Masturbation a Sin?
If you have followed our posts you know we've covered these grounds before. The Bible defines sin for us; let's read:
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." - 1 John 3:4
So, if sin is the transgression of the law... "which law?"... well the law of God as stated in Exodus 20, and there's no law or even a verse that forbids masturbation... can you guess? No sin! Right? There's no law being broken when we enter, solely, the act of masturbation. So on that end... we're good. We have the first piece of the puzzle. The trick here, however, is to pay VERY close attention to the word: "solely". The act in and on itself is NOT a sin... BUT...
If not a sin... am I free to masturbate?
Well... not quite. See, if I tell you to loose a bolt, is that bad? No right, nothing wrong with loosening a bolt. Now, if you were to look at a bigger picture and see that the bold is structurally important and, should you loose it, someone might get seriously injured... would it be bad to loose the bolt? Yes, right? The act of loosening the bolt is not wrong at all, but when put into context and looking at the bigger picture, it might actually be bad. Same EXACT deal with the concept of 'masturbation'. The "wrong-ness" of the act is NOT in the act itself but the circumstances that surround the act.
God is smart, in fact, He's all knowledgeable so... He knew that he didn't need to directly state "do not masturbate". He knows that He has given us, in the Bible, everything we need to determine by ourselves whether masturbation is good or not. Now it's time... let's look at the Bible.
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#1: The thoughts play a BIG role
Let's look at some verses here:
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
...ok, so we know all these kinds of acts are not right in the eyes of God. Of special interest to this conversation is the "adulterers" portion. Why? Well, let's read this next verse:
“You have heard that it was said to those of old,‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." - Matthew 5:27-28
Would you agree that imagining yourself with a woman (or a man) is very similar to looking at one and imagining yourself with her/him?
I don't know about you, but I highly doubt that people enter the act of masturbation while imagining themselves going for a run in the park. When the act of masturbation is entered into, odds are that person is imagining him/herself with another person (that being a fictitious character, a stranger, or a known person). Further than these, a lot of people masturbate to pornography which will talk about it another day. Point is, the mere imagination of having intercourse with another person is, indeed, a sin.
Now, you might say, "what if I masturbate imagining my wife/husband?"... or, "what if I masturbate not thinking about those kinds of stuff?"... well... let's continue.
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#2: Selfishness IS a sin
The act of masturbation is a selfish act. Sexual pleasure was created by God and meant to be shared and experienced with your spouse. Is a special, beautiful act that bonds and brings two people together. When someone masturbates, they're self-pleasuring themselves, they are alone, hidden, and in private engaging in an act that was meant to be share between two.
"Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." - Philippians 2:3
...and...
"Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being." - 1 Corinthians 10:24
Masturbation is a selfish sexual act. Jesus's life was about giving, the Bible encourages us countless times to give, share, be selfless... the law of God is about being honorable to God and to others... 'masturbation' is the exact opposite of all these. Satan's first two sins were (1) envy and (2) selfishness.
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#3: Not caring for your body is wrong
We've been over this verse before in other posts, haven't we 😎? We are to care for our bodies and honor God with them. We find in the Bible:
"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s." - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Along with the "benefits" of masturbation that the internet might share, there's a good share also of negative side effects involving sexual disfunction (problems getting arousal, problems with orgasm...etc.) among others... and, of course we can't miss the single most important one, knowing that we're not honoring God nor preserving the beautifulness sexual intimacy to be shared with a spouse! These are some of the many other causes that slightly sickens our bodies and degrades our mental health which, obviously, is a bad thing to do. Let's stay healthy and avoid masturbation!
"I'm struggling with masturbation addiction... will God forgive me? What should I do?"
My beautiful friend, it doesn't matter what you have done until this very day... Jesus' grace covers you. In the Bible we have a beautiful example (among many others) of the grace of Jesus. Let's read:
"Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?' This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.'And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, 'Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.'” - John 8:2-11
Adultery was (and is) such a terrible thing that in the old times the punishment for adultery was death. A horrible sin to commit and here comes these people ready to stone a woman for committing adultery asking Jesus what should they do... and what happened? Jesus didn't raised a finger in accusation but acknowledges a great truth, we are ALL sinners. With infinite love he didn't bother judging or condemning the woman, simply asked her not to sin again. That same Jesus that showed love for that woman is the same Jesus that loves you and is waiting for you to accept His grace and asked Him for help to defeat temptation.
Jesus grace is ALL you need. If you often find yourself tempted with masturbation desires (or any other sinful desire for that matter), know that Jesus is waiting for you to simply call upon his name, come to Him just the way you are, repent, and start living a new life.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,..." - Ephesians 2:8
Enough, right? Let's close
God loves you friend. He wants the absolute best for you and He wants you to live the best life you can possibly live next to Him. He not only knows you but He designed and created you so, if there's someone around who knows what's best for you... it's Him. If he would've thought that masturbation did indeed had benefits, He would've spoke about it and pass to us through the Bible; but that's not the case. Throughout the years I've met people that have become addicted to masturbation (yes, it can be addictive as it releases pleasure hormones - essentially drugs - from the brain) and also even addicted to pornography, and throughout the years these some of them have recognized that they have failed God because masturbation is, indeed, something that should never be practiced. Enjoying sexual pleasure as God intended, in the privacy of your place with your spouse is the most beautiful thing anyone can experience. Let's not cheat God's beautiful design by selfishly attempting to pleasure ourselves.
If you're struggling with masturbation and even pornography addictions, know that there's help available. You can always talk to us but we understand if you don't want to divulge such private information to us. We have left in our 'Resources' tab in this page some other resources that you can use to help overcome the problem. Aside from resources though, I got one better for you. It's a man who will go to your aid day and night, 24/7, whenever you call... a man that preferred to risk losing everything for you, than living with everything without you... His name is Jesus. Whenever you want or whenever you find yourself struggling with temptation, call upon His name and ask for help and HE WILL come help you. The Bible says:
"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13
What a beautiful friend we have in God.
Until next one my friend,
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