Wednesday, June 13, 2007

MASTURBATION: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

'Masturbation is nothing to be ashamed of. It's not something to be particularly proud of, either.' (Matt Groening)


There's a brand of milk in Australia called 'Big M'. On the 'Net, there's also a big M, masturbation. The following (from various newsgroups) are typical:

'Addicted To Masturbation'


*** 'I am a born again Christian and pornography is probably the one of the toughest issues that I and probably everyone else face. The Lord let me know that pornography was no longer something I needed nor was it EVER good for me. I used to be the guy with a drawer full of Playboys in the bathroom and I would masturbate every day! I also know that all of my friends have most of their problems when it comes to pornographic and other sexual issues. I am telling you that the Devil is really pouring on his attack right now and everyday it's getting a little easier to get your hands on some of the junk.

Although I threw out every shred of pornography and cleaned out my hard drive quite some time ago, I notice that my addiction to masturbation has in no way been broken. The Devil is sneaky and it's absolutely true that he attacks from behind and little by little people become enslaved. I am not concerned any longer about salvation (I am a believer and know the grace of the Lord - that is faith and not works)...

I have remained a virgin through all of this for which I am VERY thankful, but I know that Christ reigns in glorious victory and I wish to become stronger in His Spirit and I NEED some help all of this stuff.

The thing is that sex is everywhere!! I don't need to look at pornography. I can open a People magazine and start to masturbate although I may not EVEN HAVE ANY DESIRE to do some other then psychologically.

The truth is that I was on the Internet just about 30 minutes ago and I was running all over the place looking for some pornography. Just a naked body, that's all I wanted to see. I knew that it was certainly not a good thing, but I find more and more porn every time I look and after I was through masturbating I knew things were just not right and that I need some extra insight into this particular struggle of mine.'

*** And another: 'I have been wondering why God has made the mechanism of women having menstruations and men having wet dreams and yet call it "unclean" as in the book of Leviticus. I guess the "unclean" here refers to poor hygiene and not sin. Regarding masturbation, I know that lust is a form of adultery and thinking about the act before putting it into action may be a sin, but what about "fantasies"? Are fantasies sinful? And if it's just the action and mechanism alone, is masturbation still sinful? I believe some of you out there would think that God does not give boys penises to "play with themselves" but eventually make love with a women and masturbation is actually misusing the organ, then isn't sucking our thumb, bitting our fingernails sinful too? Men have sex drives and it is very very difficult to control it, and if the penis is only for sex alone (as well as urination) then why did God give us the ability to erect (babies as well) even if we are not having sex? Why doesn't he make it that only married men can have sex? Why does he give people sexual feelings before marriage?'

*** A single woman, in her forties, a staff-member in a fundamentalist church came for counseling. She'd been referred by her senior pastor, who didn't know her 'problem', and she didn't want to tell him, but she said she 'needed to talk to someone about something.' She sat nervously on the edge of the chair, briefly sketched some aspects of her history, and then paused for a long time. Eventually she stuttered: 'Actually my problem's a terrible one. My church preaches that I'll go to hell for doing this... It's the 'big M'.' 'Oh,' I said, 'masturbation'...

Read the full article here.

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