I am 15 years old. And I have been addicted to pornography for the past 10 months today is my 6th clean day, and I'm very happy! But the only way I have cept my sexual feelings under control is to masturbate daily. So my question is, am I still sinning? I knew that the porn was 100% wrong and it was ruining my current and future life. But is my method of resistance as bad as the transgression?
Is masturbation wrong?
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i had a similar problem as you do now. i had a porn addiction also. i dealt with it a lot like you are now. it all comes down to intent. what is the reason why you are doing it. Jesus clarified for us that it is not the action that is wrong but the intent of our hearts.
many people here are sticklers for the word of God. they seem to forget that God gives everyone mercy and grace. God knows what you are dealing with and is there to help. as long as you are doing your best you have nothing to worry about. God has made provisions for us when we slip but know that God will forgive us as long as we ask him time and time again. for it is not by us being good that gets us to heaven but trusting in, relying upon the name of Jesus.
i hope this helps. i will be praying for you
God bless
many people here are sticklers for the word of God. they seem to forget that God gives everyone mercy and grace. God knows what you are dealing with and is there to help. as long as you are doing your best you have nothing to worry about. God has made provisions for us when we slip but know that God will forgive us as long as we ask him time and time again. for it is not by us being good that gets us to heaven but trusting in, relying upon the name of Jesus.
i hope this helps. i will be praying for you
God bless
I have to second this quote. I know it's a tough situation to be in, a really tough one. I don't know all the details as to why you're doing it, but do you find yourself bored, and then your mind starts wandering down the wrong road? If all this is too personal, you can send me a PM, or I can PM you. But, I do believe God would not sanction this at all. I'm not denying His mercy or His grace (= He is well aware of the struggle.
The bible doesn't say anything against it. I think its a natural way to release sexual tension. Its normal to have sexual desires, especially when hormones begin running wild, so imo its nothing sinful or anything to feel guilty about. God created us with natural attraction toward the opposite sex because He wanted us to reproduce. While Its important to control our natural instincts until marriage, having desires is part of being made flesh. JMO
I think it is only a problem if you do it with the intent of doing something elicit or it becomes an addiction. Using it to help de-stress is probably no bad thing, just like there's nothign wrong with a couple of beers at the end of a hard day but like alcohol it can get addictive if you let it..
Overall it's not the end of the world it's good you have enough common sense to feel some guilt. Don't beat yourself up too bad at 15 you still have lots of time to turn it around older women can be pretty dominant sexually just try to resist them.
There is no law that forbids masturbating. The one scripture that some will us to support that it is wrong is found in Genesis 38:6-10 in regards to Onan. Here is what it says:
[sup]6 [/sup]And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.
[sup]7 [/sup]And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him.
[sup]8 [/sup]And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
[sup]9 [/sup]And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
[sup]10 [/sup]And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also.
God's Law says (You can read about this in Deuteronomy 25:5-10) that if a woman's husband should die before offspring is brought forth, that the next nearest of kin must take her as wife and provide seed for his deceased relative so that his name may carry forth. Onan did lie with Tamar, but pulled out before any seed could be implanted. God killed him because he would not perform the duty God commanded.
However, there is a passage that eludes me at the moment that says something along the lines that the Israelite men (women?) are not to mix their seed with the heathen. God was saying that the Israelites were not to bring forth offspring with a heathen man or woman. I suppose you could apply this to masturbation as well when you spill your seed to a picture of a heathen woman. No, you have not had literal intercourse with her, but you are wasting your seed on a heathen woman. Yeshua also said in Matthew 5:28 that a man, married or unmarried, who looketh on a woman to lust after her have all ready committed adultery in their heart. Some interpret this to mean all woman, whether married or unmarried. A single man or married man lusting after a single woman cannot commit adultery if she is not married. I agree with Dan57, it is a natural part of our make-up, but use discretion. I would probably avoid pictures and film all together, never know who you might be spilling your seed to and don't make masturbating into some sort of an idol either.
[sup]6 [/sup]And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.
[sup]7 [/sup]And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him.
[sup]8 [/sup]And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
[sup]9 [/sup]And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
[sup]10 [/sup]And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also.
God's Law says (You can read about this in Deuteronomy 25:5-10) that if a woman's husband should die before offspring is brought forth, that the next nearest of kin must take her as wife and provide seed for his deceased relative so that his name may carry forth. Onan did lie with Tamar, but pulled out before any seed could be implanted. God killed him because he would not perform the duty God commanded.
However, there is a passage that eludes me at the moment that says something along the lines that the Israelite men (women?) are not to mix their seed with the heathen. God was saying that the Israelites were not to bring forth offspring with a heathen man or woman. I suppose you could apply this to masturbation as well when you spill your seed to a picture of a heathen woman. No, you have not had literal intercourse with her, but you are wasting your seed on a heathen woman. Yeshua also said in Matthew 5:28 that a man, married or unmarried, who looketh on a woman to lust after her have all ready committed adultery in their heart. Some interpret this to mean all woman, whether married or unmarried. A single man or married man lusting after a single woman cannot commit adultery if she is not married. I agree with Dan57, it is a natural part of our make-up, but use discretion. I would probably avoid pictures and film all together, never know who you might be spilling your seed to and don't make masturbating into some sort of an idol either.
It promises much and delivers nothing..a perfect bait for the trap...moments of pleasure for a lifetime of misery
We have to consider idols in our heart and what or who we run to when we need comfort and solace in this life. If Jesus were calling you to come to him with your whole heart, would you be able to do that when you have that "urge?" If you are not able to come to Jesus when you have an urge for anything (not just masturbation), then that is sin and has become an idol in your heart stronger than the influence of Jesus. If you cannot obey His voice because there is another stronger "voice" calling you, then you know it has a stronger influence on you than Jesus. When you find this out (and I believe you know right now) you will be faced with either tearing down that idol (high tower) or continuiing to worship it.
If you have just quit pornography then the Enemy is going to bring images back to your mind to excite your flesh. There is going to be a battle. If you are bethrothed to Jesus Christ then masturbating on those images is spiritual adultery. The enemy wants you to lose hope and believe that you can never be free. He wants you to give up the race and give in. It is in his interest for you to believe this. But, that is a lie and you can be free.
There is mercy and love and forgiveness from God. And His delivering power is also available for us if we want to come to Him with ALL of our heart. A double-minded man won't receive anything from God.
We must believe that God wants us to be free from anything that has control over us and that His power can free us.
Sin is simply anything that is not of God.
Axehead
If you have just quit pornography then the Enemy is going to bring images back to your mind to excite your flesh. There is going to be a battle. If you are bethrothed to Jesus Christ then masturbating on those images is spiritual adultery. The enemy wants you to lose hope and believe that you can never be free. He wants you to give up the race and give in. It is in his interest for you to believe this. But, that is a lie and you can be free.
There is mercy and love and forgiveness from God. And His delivering power is also available for us if we want to come to Him with ALL of our heart. A double-minded man won't receive anything from God.
We must believe that God wants us to be free from anything that has control over us and that His power can free us.
Sin is simply anything that is not of God.
Axehead
God created sex, it isn't sin, but a natural impulse, attraction, and biological function. Adultery and fornication are sin, but sex and sexual attraction are normal. I think comparing normal sexual desires to idolatry, sin, or a dirty deed, scares young people away from the Truth. Telling someone not to think about sex is tantamount to telling them to refrain from eating and not think about food. Its an impossible request and a task that defies human nature. JMO
"But if they cannot have self-control, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn with passion" (1 Corinthians 7:9)
No one said "sex" is sin or that humans should not think about sex. You are deflecting the issue, creating a strawman.
Pornography is sin and defrauds human beings. It is not the proper use of the gift that God has given us.
We are talking about "idols".
1Jn_5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Fornication, whether in the mind or in practice is idolatry.
Col_3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
The deeper issue is that we are talking about something (anything) having more influence (idols) over you than Jesus Christ.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
2Co_6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Your doctrine will not set anyone free, it will only bring them into more bondage.
1Co_10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
Axehead
I don't know if you read the OP, but the question is not about appropriate God-given instinct within the context of emotional and age-appropriate attraction to someone of the opposite sex. The question is about self-gratification - which is not what God ordained at all. This youngster may have years to wait before he is ready to commit to marriage, and has met the woman of God's choice for him. The solution he needs now, is self-control, a clear conscience before God, and an end to the torment which he's experiencing. God can give him all this, and in His good time, a wife.
The idea that sexual urges have to be gratified as soon as they appear - in the same way as a baby puts new teeth into action as soon as they appear - is nowhere in scripture. Therefore, the answers to managing sexual desire are in a closer relationship with the Lord, as Axehead indicated.
Hi Axehead,
I was interested in how you phrased the order in which you put things, and am going to pick up just one and a half sentences for further discussion.
I would argue that this is incorrect reasoning in part if not in whole, because the Lord is our refuge from every spiritual attack, and it is He, through the Holy Spirit whose life is supposed to be lived out through our flesh. If we try to resist temptation in our own strength, so that we can come to Jesus, it is likely we will fail many times. The thing Satan hates, is when our relationship with Him is so open and honest, that even when we have that specific temptation, we can come to Him immediately, knowing that He also was tempted but resisted perfectly. Being tempted is not a sin.
You may not agree with this next comment, either, because I would go further: that while the battle is on, the battle is not to not do the sin, but the battle is to turn away from the flesh in one's heart, and get oneself into the presence of the Lord as soon as possible, regardless of whether one has already failed in a measure. I say again, the Lord understands; He understands that Satan targeted the heart of God's image in man, (which was designed to reproduce men in God's image), and He understands the way normal sexual impulses are supposed to work in purity.
Because He made us this way, He understands completely that both what we see with our eyes, and what we see with our hearts, have the potential make us mad (demented), when they represent unfulfilled hope. And Satan plays on this relentlessly.
Deuteronomy 28:30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. 31 Thine ox [shall be] slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass [shall be] violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep [shall be] given to thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue [them]. 32 Thy sons and thy daughters [shall be] given to another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail [with longing] for them all the day long: and [there shall be] no might in thine hand. 33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: 34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it].
The way of escape is not in one's own strength. It is in turning directly to the cross and being utterly honest with the Lord about the need of the moment. The hardest thing is turning to Him at the very moment we want to appease the flesh. To me, this is where the battle really lies. And yet here, too, is where the battle is won. I don't think it matters how far along the line the sin has progressed, as long as recourse is made to His presence, where it cannot but wither a little more, every time it is stopped this way. God is not afraid of these situations, and neither should we be.
Hebrews 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things [are] naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast [our] profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
I think it's worth taking time to look at one reason which may compound our unwillingness to seek His strength to overcome. Hebrews 7:25
This is only one very common instance... we may be projecting a wrong image of God on to Him in our thinking, such as attitudes we met in a parent or carer so that we expect some kind of punishment from Him, or, that He is going to make us pay somehow for having failed Him this way. Or, we may have separated ourselves from the issue in our own thinking, so that with one head we are complying with the flesh, and with the other head we are pouring hatred on ourselves for being so conflicted - effectively having taken on a disapproving parental voice so that we beat ourselves up verbally - or physically - for fear of admitting - even to ourselves - that something is out of control, or beyond our control. The prospect of risking owning up to the Lord, asking for Him for help, or to reveal a deeper need, or to heal damage done by previous sins - is almost unthinkable, because we are unconsciously hoping to gain or keep His approval, either by or for our own efforts. We've forgotten God made us uniquely as we are, according to HIs own perfect parenting, and He knows us all through - both what brought us to this condition (of need), and, how to restore us to the likeness of His image. He can bring us into wholeness and rest in our own skins, bearing the fruit of self-control; but, we must ask Him.
There are many other wrong kinds of thinking, which make us vulnerable to temptation, due to other kinds of preconditioning through experience and the media. We need to know our own trigger points, and deal with them according to the Lord's leading. Avoidance may be enough to avert certain temptations, but if avoidance only makes it worse, the solution lies deeper and we most definitely need to seek the Lord's ministrations both of revelation and consolation in healing.
This is said in the expectation that a Christian wants to be recreated in God's image Eph 4:24, to live pleasing to Him, and that he is willing to pray - without fear - about every deep personal need which comes to his understanding, knowing he is loved of a God who is well able to meet all His needs and much, much more.
I hope you're not shocked by those ideas, and I also hope you'll consider them doctrinally, and comment if possible.
Pornography was not the issue either. And I respectfully disagree with your interpretation of masturbation as idolatry. Fornication is sex outside of marriage, its a sin of the flesh for a physical act. Desiring sex is neither a sin or idolatry, its a normal instinct that God gave to everyone. Idolatry is worshipping other gods, and a virgin hasn't committed fornication no matter how you spin it.
Yes I read the original post, which is why I felt inspired to disassociate masturbation with idolatry, fornication, etc. No where in the bible is self-gratification a sin, its not even mentioned. And I would argue that masturbation is far from being a 'torment' as you described it, but is rather a form of self-control. I look at it from a biblical pov, and not the guilt ridden religious traditions.
Hi Dan,
Thanks for your reply; but I have no idea how you can say
Guilt is a natural response to wrong-doing, too, and it's a gift from God, like pain, which indicates there is a problem. In the case of guilt, it is to do with whether we are in right relationship with God; and with sin from - God's point of view.
Not all 'religious traditions' were out of tune with God's mind.
James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume [it] upon your lusts.
Thanks for your reply; but I have no idea how you can say
Guilt is a natural response to wrong-doing, too, and it's a gift from God, like pain, which indicates there is a problem. In the case of guilt, it is to do with whether we are in right relationship with God; and with sin from - God's point of view.
Not all 'religious traditions' were out of tune with God's mind.
James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume [it] upon your lusts.
Fair enough, Dan. You are right. Pornography was not the issue. Only the person who wrote the OP could tell us what was going on in his heart at the time but I am not asking him to do that and don't think he should. It is enough that the Lord knows what goes on in our hearts. And it is enough for us to know that HE KNOWS.
Again, only the Lord knows what is happening in one's heart (thought life). Wouldn't you agree? Everything starts in the heart of man, right Dan?
Do you agree with Jesus that we can commit adultery in our heart without ever engaging in the physical act?
Mat_5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
And back to you, Dan. "Desiring sex" according to God's will is not what the OP is about.
Idolatry is worshipping other gods, and a virgin hasn't committed fornication no matter how you spin it.
I can only refer back to my question to you whether you agree with Jesus that one can commit adultery in their heart? Are we espoused to Christ?
2Co_11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Can you, in all honesty, masturbate without sinning against the clear commands of Christ? If yes, then we are never told that the act itself is impure or forbidden. But let us be honest and admit that it is not so easy to do if we are committed to avoid mental sexual sin (lust, adultery in the heart).
The Word does not explicitly talk about it, and if a Christian can do it without sinning then it is in the end just a physical act. But to go deeper, the Holy Spirit may have us contemplate why we turn to self for relief and gratification instead of the Lord. It could be compared to turning to marijuana or alcohol for solace and relief or hours and hours of television or overeating (gluttony). This is where the Holy Spirit has to deal with a man as only He can. It is very difficult to convince anyone that can do it without sinning in their heart that there might still be something on a deeper level wrong with it. This is why the Holy Spirit is so important in our lives and why we don't walk according to rules and regulations.
And from a woman's point of view there is a lot more still. I believe a man should get the victory in his thoughts regarding fantasizing with women in a sexual way long before he considers a spouse. Because the man that will sexually fantasize while masturbating may well also fantasize that he is with other women while at the same time engaging in relations with his wife. This is abhorrent to women and should be equally abhorrent to a man of God. It is about what "SELF" gets and how it uses the other person as merely an object for it's own end. To be really clear, using a women's body while fantasizing about others is nothing less than masturbation. This defrauds the wife on many levels and this is adultery in the heart.
Only the Lord can make a person aware of the dividing between the thoughts and intents of the heart. The heart can be very subtle and men may not think they are sinning on any level whatsoever.
It all comes down to what is happening in our heart. A self-focused orientation can and will create idols in the heart. An idol is something we turn to when we should be turning to the Lord. An idol steals our love, affection and worship when it should be directed towards the Lord. Self-worship can appear in various manifestations.
Axehead
Hi Dan,
I don't know if you read the OP, but the question is not about appropriate God-given instinct within the context of emotional and age-appropriate attraction to someone of the opposite sex. The question is about self-gratification - which is not what God ordained at all. This youngster may have years to wait before he is ready to commit to marriage, and has met the woman of God's choice for him. The solution he needs now, is self-control, a clear conscience before God, and an end to the torment which he's experiencing. God can give him all this, and in His good time, a wife.
The idea that sexual urges have to be gratified as soon as they appear - in the same way as a baby puts new teeth into action as soon as they appear - is nowhere in scripture. Therefore, the answers to managing sexual desire are in a closer relationship with the Lord, as Axehead indicated.
Hi Axehead,
I was interested in how you phrased the order in which you put things, and am going to pick up just one and a half sentences for further discussion.
I would argue that this is incorrect reasoning in part if not in whole, because the Lord is our refuge from every spiritual attack, and it is He, through the Holy Spirit whose life is supposed to be lived out through our flesh. If we try to resist temptation in our own strength, so that we can come to Jesus, it is likely we will fail many times. The thing Satan hates, is when our relationship with Him is so open and honest, that even when we have that specific temptation, we can come to Him immediately, knowing that He also was tempted but resisted perfectly. Being tempted is not a sin.
You may not agree with this next comment, either, because I would go further: that while the battle is on, the battle is not to not do the sin, but the battle is to turn away from the flesh in one's heart, and get oneself into the presence of the Lord as soon as possible, regardless of whether one has already failed in a measure. I say again, the Lord understands; He understands that Satan targeted the heart of God's image in man, (which was designed to reproduce men in God's image), and He understands the way normal sexual impulses are supposed to work in purity.
Because He made us this way, He understands completely that both what we see with our eyes, and what we see with our hearts, have the potential make us mad (demented), when they represent unfulfilled hope. And Satan plays on this relentlessly.
Deuteronomy 28:30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. 31 Thine ox [shall be] slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass [shall be] violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep [shall be] given to thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue [them]. 32 Thy sons and thy daughters [shall be] given to another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail [with longing] for them all the day long: and [there shall be] no might in thine hand. 33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: 34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it].
The way of escape is not in one's own strength. It is in turning directly to the cross and being utterly honest with the Lord about the need of the moment. The hardest thing is turning to Him at the very moment we want to appease the flesh. To me, this is where the battle really lies. And yet here, too, is where the battle is won. I don't think it matters how far along the line the sin has progressed, as long as recourse is made to His presence, where it cannot but wither a little more, every time it is stopped this way. God is not afraid of these situations, and neither should we be.
Hebrews 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things [are] naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast [our] profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
I think it's worth taking time to look at one reason which may compound our unwillingness to seek His strength to overcome. Hebrews 7:25
This is only one very common instance... we may be projecting a wrong image of God on to Him in our thinking, such as attitudes we met in a parent or carer so that we expect some kind of punishment from Him, or, that He is going to make us pay somehow for having failed Him this way. Or, we may have separated ourselves from the issue in our own thinking, so that with one head we are complying with the flesh, and with the other head we are pouring hatred on ourselves for being so conflicted - effectively having taken on a disapproving parental voice so that we beat ourselves up verbally - or physically - for fear of admitting - even to ourselves - that something is out of control, or beyond our control. The prospect of risking owning up to the Lord, asking for Him for help, or to reveal a deeper need, or to heal damage done by previous sins - is almost unthinkable, because we are unconsciously hoping to gain or keep His approval, either by or for our own efforts. We've forgotten God made us uniquely as we are, according to HIs own perfect parenting, and He knows us all through - both what brought us to this condition (of need), and, how to restore us to the likeness of His image. He can bring us into wholeness and rest in our own skins, bearing the fruit of self-control; but, we must ask Him.
There are many other wrong kinds of thinking, which make us vulnerable to temptation, due to other kinds of preconditioning through experience and the media. We need to know our own trigger points, and deal with them according to the Lord's leading. Avoidance may be enough to avert certain temptations, but if avoidance only makes it worse, the solution lies deeper and we most definitely need to seek the Lord's ministrations both of revelation and consolation in healing.
This is said in the expectation that a Christian wants to be recreated in God's image Eph 4:24, to live pleasing to Him, and that he is willing to pray - without fear - about every deep personal need which comes to his understanding, knowing he is loved of a God who is well able to meet all His needs and much, much more.
I hope you're not shocked by those ideas, and I also hope you'll consider them doctrinally, and comment if possible.Zechariah 9:12
Hi dragonfly,
I am not shocked by your ideas at all and I do agree with you. I just did not develop my previous posts as much as you did. Thank you for adding your insight to the discussion.
Axehead
Guilt comes in many forms, its not necessarily generated from sin or the result of sin. A Catholic might feel guilty for not eating fish on Fridays, but I doubt God considers it a sin?
Yes, but adultery is yet another subject. A person who masturbates is not necessarily lusting after a married person, so they aren't committing adultery of the heart. There's no sin in being attracted to other single persons, but a married man or woman belongs to another, so in that sense, its a sin to covet another persons spouse..
Also, imo most of the verses cited are referring to spiritual fornication. With Christ being the bridegroom and his church the bride, when a person strays or worships a different god, that's the disloyal activity referring to spiritual fornication or adultery.
I reckon a man considers a spouse because he never gets the victory over fantasizing about sex.
Now in jumps one extremely red-blooded teenager . . .
If I remember, I was reading a book that stated that with the over-sexualization of our culture, kids are now reaching puberty increasingly earlier than previously. Instead of being 18, they're now 11. But they're still expected to wait: in some cases.
I sympathize with the OP, but at the same time, from my own xp, I must raise one big question: how strong is your will? I would like to run to Genesis, with Joseph. Here we see him resisting his master's wife's advances. Can you imagine how hard that must have been? He would have been peaking at that time physically (or pretty close anyway). And here was a woman who probably was a like one of the fine woman of the land, sort of like our models, movie stars, etc. So what was it that stopped him? I believe it was the fear/respect he had for God. No matter how hard it was, he turned away, to the point that it cost him his job.
How hard is it, really, to turn the computer off? Actually, when your lusts are running rampant, it's very hard, but if you love God and have enough respect/fear for him, you will turn it off and go to sleep, or you will go out for a run. One MUST address his respect for God to conquer sin.
I don't want to get too deep into whether masturbation is right or wrong. I think one must be in control of ANYTHING he does. If masturbation is controlling you, then without a doubt, it's sinful. If that's the only way you can keep from porn, then you better find another way, a more sure-fire way. You need a fear of God like Joseph had, that when faced with the opportunity to indulge, you push it away, even to your own hurt.
If I remember, I was reading a book that stated that with the over-sexualization of our culture, kids are now reaching puberty increasingly earlier than previously. Instead of being 18, they're now 11. But they're still expected to wait: in some cases.
I sympathize with the OP, but at the same time, from my own xp, I must raise one big question: how strong is your will? I would like to run to Genesis, with Joseph. Here we see him resisting his master's wife's advances. Can you imagine how hard that must have been? He would have been peaking at that time physically (or pretty close anyway). And here was a woman who probably was a like one of the fine woman of the land, sort of like our models, movie stars, etc. So what was it that stopped him? I believe it was the fear/respect he had for God. No matter how hard it was, he turned away, to the point that it cost him his job.
How hard is it, really, to turn the computer off? Actually, when your lusts are running rampant, it's very hard, but if you love God and have enough respect/fear for him, you will turn it off and go to sleep, or you will go out for a run. One MUST address his respect for God to conquer sin.
I don't want to get too deep into whether masturbation is right or wrong. I think one must be in control of ANYTHING he does. If masturbation is controlling you, then without a doubt, it's sinful. If that's the only way you can keep from porn, then you better find another way, a more sure-fire way. You need a fear of God like Joseph had, that when faced with the opportunity to indulge, you push it away, even to your own hurt.
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