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Topic: Kinda of an embarrissing question
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WhiteEagle
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Member # 3728
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posted
LOL! Praise God for you Laurie!
I too, have not wanted to be in the bathroom when Christ comes back either. ![[roll on floor]](graemlins/6.gif)
It's too funny~!
Posts: 1392 | From: Maine | Registered: Aug 2004
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LaurieFL
Advanced Member
Member # 3794
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posted
OKay, this is probably way too graphic for some of you, so please don't read this if you think you might get offended. I feel compelled to give a personal example as a question.
I am a woman. I have physical urges as most people do. I am newly married. I love my husband and I love consummating my love with him. He is out of town for a few days, and I have been suffering physical pangs for wanting sex, totally a hormonal thing I believe - without thinking upon sex or watching anything bad on TV or in print.
Now, I don't personally feel comfortable with masturbation anymore, although it is a practice I have done for most of my life. However, my question to the folks condemning it here is the following: what if my husband and I had phone sex?
I personally tend to think it would be weird, but I had to ask the question to see your answers, because it would involve no fantasy of anyone else, but would be between a married couple!
My personal choice in this situation has been to keep busy and plan on pouncing on him when he gets home, but I have to wonder if a couple found themselves in this situation for a prolonged period, what would be the proper course of action. In my opinion, it could be something that would help maintain some intimacy between them and could help keep them from sinning as a result of unresolved yearnings. I don't know the right answer!
I tend to think "I wouldn't want to be doing that sort of thing when Jesus came back", but then again I wouldn't want to be using the bathroom, picking my nose, or having sex with my spouse when He comes back either, so I don't know if that is a valid thought.
Posts: 700 | Registered: Aug 2004
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WhiteEagle
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Member # 3728
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posted
BecauseHelives:
I respect your belief, and admit since I am not a man, I may be not as aware of these things you mention as a man. I do know that perhaps since this area is not a problem for me personally, that I underestimated the pitfalls, but I certainly don't think masterbation is something that is a Good thing at all. I just don't think we should be overly severe, but teach and teach well for the child's sake. I fear that sometimes children are made to feel guilty for sexual stirrings, that are part of growing up, and I perhaps suffered from that.
My parents caused me to be so afraid of boys, that it really caused worse problems later.
Anyway, I know that my own husband is a Christian, and things that bother him as a man, don't personally bother me, as a woman, plus being a nurse, I kind of take the human body as something to heal, not lust after. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
God bless.
Posts: 1392 | From: Maine | Registered: Aug 2004
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Miguel
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Member # 47
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posted
It just came to mind at this time, that is why the Lord indicates in His word that is not good for a man to be alone male and female made He so they will be one. The desires of the man are for the woman and the desires of the woman are to the man! But even when you have your partner many things can come up, sometimes the female is aggressive in that area than man and sometimes the man is more aggressive in that area. So it creates conflict and that is when fleshy desires come in to fulfill that which your partner does not.
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Romans 9:11-24
Our Eschatology may vary even our Ecclesiology may be disputed among us but our Soteriology most assume a singularity and exclusivity which in biblical term is known as Quote; "The Narrow Way" and Quote!
Posts: 2792 | From: Stockton,Ca | Registered: Jun 2002
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Miguel
Advanced Member
Member # 47
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by Crusader:
quote:
Originally posted by helpforhomeschoolers:
Its a no-no
Awww man. Looks like I'm going to hell ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
You are not going to hell because you have lusted in your own nature, but you will go to hell if the Lord Jesus Christ does not cover you with His blood!
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Romans 9:11-24
Our Eschatology may vary even our Ecclesiology may be disputed among us but our Soteriology most assume a singularity and exclusivity which in biblical term is known as Quote; "The Narrow Way" and Quote!
Posts: 2792 | From: Stockton,Ca | Registered: Jun 2002
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becauseHElives
Advanced Member
Member # 87
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posted
WhiteEagle,
quote:
Like everything else, it's a condition of one's heart, which determines if it is a sin.
I'm not going to condemn a lonely widower or divorced person, which worries that masturbation, might be a sin. The Bible NEVER, even in the Old Testament, ever mentions this specific practice.
Where the Bible is silent, I think we do have freedom.
You may not condemn them, but Yahweh’s Word does. (And with that perspective those you do not warn to flee immorality, their blood will be on your hands)
When you don’t know what Yahweh’s Word teaches you should stay silent.
WhiteEagle, as a man that was almost destroyed by maturation. I started masturbating at 13 years old. I can tell you positively, that it is impossible to masturbate without lusting in your mind over the image of some kind to arouse you.
This is fornication!
Just because there is only one person in the room doesn’t mean there aren’t multiple partners participating. I can also tell you positively that once masturbation begins in a person’s life the images have to get stronger and stronger to achieve gratification. Hence you have rape, incest, child molesters, bestiality and every other kind of perversion.
And except for the “GRACE” of Yahweh, and I mean His divine influence upon the heart and the power of the Holy Spirit you will never be free. For years after I had ask Yeshua in my heart, I could not have normal sex. When I slept with my wife, there were always extra people in bed with us in my mind. I did not know it was even possible to have sex with just my wife.
But praise be to Yahweh, I keep crying out, deliver me, to set me free and He did.
Roman 8
[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit….
I promise you no one waking after the Spirit will be masturbating.
quote:
I hope you both don't intend to give the impression that you would punish your 12 year old boy or girl for touching themselves and masturbating, and tell the 12 year old she/he's going to Hell, because he touched a part of his body?
Punish (I have only disciplined my children for direct disobedience) never say for accidents, something like breaking a lamp. Now if the lamp were broke due to running in the house, when they had been told not to run in the house, then they would get punished. (A parent should never discipline out of anger or because of things.)
Because masturbation is generally something very private, not many parents know if their children are actively committing this sin. But if for some reason God allowed a mother or a father to know this is happening, a loving parent would sit down and explain how damaging this sin is.
Go to hell, (I believe any sin that gains such control over any person that they never get victory over that sin, will die and go to hell.) Yeshua died to set them free.
Yeshua died to set mankind free not only from the punishment of sin but also from the power sin has over mankind.
No one can get free from something, which they do not seek to be free from.
I don’t know why people are so afraid to tell their children or other people for that matter that certain kinds of behavior will send them to an eternal hell.
Lairs, thieves, fornicators, adulterer, homosexuals, perverts, ect… will not be in the Kingdom of Yahweh!
What sends the unconverted to hell, will send the child of Yahweh to hell if un-repented of. The child of Yahweh must live in a state of repentance, repentance like breathing. A heart like David, Psalms 51.
His mercies are new every morning, but I must appropriate them by continually repenting of my weaknesses and crying out for His love.
He is faithful and just to forgive our sins as we confess them.
When you ask Yeshua to forgive you of sin when you first heard the message if the cross, all the sins to that point were forgiven.
Sins after that point have to be confessed and forgiven.
There is no scripture that says, all sin past present and future are forgiven.
This is a walk of faith...
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Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
Posts: 4578 | From: Southeast Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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helpforhomeschoolers
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Member # 15
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posted
Actually I agree with Rio's comments about guilt. Sex is not something taboo or bad or ugly. The perversion of sex and ones sexuality is. The reduction of our sexuality to something carnal is a perversion of our sexuality. We are not beasts, we the work of the master potter created in the image of almighty GOD!
I do not agree with his comments about medical views rather than Biblical ones. The desire to mastrubate is not something GOD gave us.
Punishing children? That came out of your head not mine.
What I said was that we should teach our children that sex is good and pleasurable and something that God gave to us. Sex is precious, and so are their bodies. Sex and their bodies are something to be valued and used as GOD intended for His glory.
I can not even begin to comprehend how you would think that teaching children to value sex and their bodies causes guilt.
Teaching chasity as a life style because you are valued and honored by God and because you are wonderfully and beautifully made by him and for the purpose of bringing HIM glory does not cause guilt.
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002
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RioLion
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I think that much of the guilt one experiences as a teenager in the sexual area is induced not by what the Bible says, but by what has been taught to the older generation that considered sex something dirty and the topic was seldom discussed. Even hear of Victorian ethics on sexuality? Mom and Dad were that way and really failed to teach us much at all in the area of sexuality.
As for 'all things are legal for me but not all things edify' that really is what the Corinthians thought and not necessarily what Paul would have taught. Their society was very sexually oriented with temple prostitutes,etc.
The belief that all masturbation was evil is a view that has been promoted by the Roman Church. Being classified as a mortal sin that would send one directly to hell if not confessed, became a means by which priests were able to invade the personal lives of their subjects in order to exploit them. We see today that that denomination continues to pay enormous sums in law suits for interfering in the personal lives of children.
In view of our religious cultural orientation, it is best to stick with the medical determinations on this matter and simply recognize it as something natural that occurs on the way to adulthood and be done with it.
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WhiteEagle
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posted
Linda, I'm not advocating teaching people to masterbate.
BecauseHelives, I'm not condoning "everyone sins a little every day" theory.
I hope you both don't intend to give the impression that you would punish your 12 year old boy or girl for touching themselves and masterbating, and tell the 12 year old she/he's going to Hell, because he touched a part of his body?
Or would you explain to them that they are starting to mature, and that their feelings are normal, but that there are limits to what is good for them?
I'm sorry, but I find it difficult to call something that God built in to the human nature, especially since He designed us to be sexual beings, a "sin". It's normal to explore one's own body. We do it as soon as we are born. Babies first notice their hands, then their feet, and this is how they learn.
Many people who are seeking compassion and love from the church are often condemned by people who do not express God's Love and compassion.
I shudder to think what a young child would have to go through in unmerited guilt listening to these kinds of views. I'm not advocating permissiveness, but the ability to be able to teach one's child about sex, in a way that doesn't make them feel EVIL and Guilty just because they notice their own body likes pleasurable sensations.
Like everything else, it's a condition of one's heart, that determines if it is a sin.
I'm not going to condemn a lonely widower or divorsed person, that worries that masterbation might be a sin. The Bible NEVER, even in the Old Testament, ever mentions this specific practice.
Where the Bible is silent, I think we do have freedom.
The man who spilled his seed, mentioned by Linda, was punished for the condition of his heart, when he did this deed. He was in rebellion toward God.
He did not want to follow the Law, and raise up children in his dead brother's name. He was acting in selfishness, in this instance.
It's not because there was anything sacred about sperm. God knows his body could always make more sperm.
Compassion: Yes. As we know one doesn't do this unless they are young and immature or when they are in difficult circumstances, such as loneliness.
Yes there are many cases that people are addicted to porn, and they practice this, I say it's a sin at that point. They are "indulging" the lusts of the flesh. And Porn is a form of violence, and we have heard the many stories of terrible things that happen when people are addicted to porn.
I'm just trying to say that this is not a pure black and white issue. It's the condition of one's heart to God, that determines. And isn't this the case in so many other things as well?
Posts: 1392 | From: Maine | Registered: Aug 2004
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becauseHElives
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Member # 87
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posted
quote:
All things are legal; all things do not profit or edify. I will seek that which does both profit and edify in this regard. I have experienced that which is legal but does not profit and edify and it does not compare to sex as God by his design intended sex to be.
This quote just wasn't black and white enough for me.
But the above post was white, no shades of gray.
Linda, thank you for clairifing ![[thumbsup2]](graemlins/thumbsup2.gif)
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Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
Posts: 4578 | From: Southeast Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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helpforhomeschoolers
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posted
Perhaps you better go back and read my first post Dale.
The first thing folks do is claim that all things are legal. Paul says that where there is no law there is no trangression of the law. We are not under law, but grace. So people claim grace.
To which Paul says all things are legal, but all things do not edify or profit.
But what is the two commands that Jesus gave? Love your God with all your person (body soul spirit)(mind heart body)(love your neighbor as yourself)(love hath none greater than he who will lay down his life for his brother)
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO keep THE FIRST TWO ON WHICH ALL THE LAW AND THE PHROPHETS HANG WITHOUT doing that which is PROFITING AND EDIFYING!!!!!!
If you are doing something that does not profit; you are not loving God or your neighbor.
If you are doing something that does not edify, you are not loving God or your neighbor.
To love God is to Edify!
To exhalt him through the puting down of our will and lifting up of his.
To love Neigbor is to seek His profit not yours!To seek the profit of the Body of Christ above all things.
I think that sax is a spiritual matter not a flesh one. The enemy has perverted sex and taught us that it is a human need that must be filled like the need for food. That is a humanistic world view and not a Biblical one.
Sex is spiritual relationship expressed in the flesh. It is a relationship designed by God, who opened Adam's side and took out of him all things needed to create woman, then fashioning her in perfect compliment to Adam, he presented her to Adam, in the physical union of sex they came together as one complete flesh. These two beings had once been present in Adam, but GOD did not see that as good. It would be better to have them be two bodies that complimented, completed each other. What God hath joined together let no man separate.
Sex is about the compliment, the completing of two things that are better suited to acomplish God's will than either are apart and incomplete.
Why does the enemy pervert sex? Because Sex is a Holy thing. Sex is something that expresses love of the purest kind.
In marriage, a body of a husband does not belong to the husband, but to the wife. Likewise the body of the wife does not belong to the wife but to the husband. In marriage God does not see them as two but as ONE flesh with a head that is the husband.
Christ is one body with the Church; God the father does not look at the church and see the bride, he looks at the church and sees the SON who is the head of his body the church.
The sexual union of man and woman in one flesh is an expression in the flesh of a spiritual union of our spiriutal union with Christ.
It is a relationship that is designed by God to Honor and glorify God.
This is why the enemy has perverted sex.
Nothing GOD does is about self; God's love is a love that denies self that the whole be glorified.
Christ gave his body that the compliment of it that is the church be glorified.In doing that he is glorified by God.
In sex, we give our bodies to our partner that the compliment of us that is our partner be glorified. In doing that we too are glorified. And God is also Glorified.
IF you think God does not take this issue seriously, I would have you look at something...
THis is a story from Genesis 38....
6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.
8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. 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.
10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.
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For spilling his seed on the ground God slew Judah's second born son.
Man's seed is for God's purpose. God does not like it being spent irreverently.
Only the marriage bed is undefiled by the spilling of seed. The marriage is consumated in the union of sex.
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
God even uses this analogy of the spilling of seed to show the child of God verses the one who sins...
1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him:
Sex is a holy thing; created and given to man and woman by God to be shared. It is a physical expression of a spiritual principle that was intended to profit and to edify. When sex occurs as God has intended it, God is glorified.
Satan has perverted sex; Satan has told us a lie that we have natural (flesh)urges that must be satisfied whether or not we have a spouse with which to have sex, and as some of us have shared here, this is what men are teaching their sons.
Why do you think that the scripture says it is better to marry than to be given over to lust?
![[Confused]](confused.gif) Why does it not say just satisfy your lust with masturbation? This is what you are teaching your children right?
It does not say this because, masturbation is FORNICATION. All sex outside the bed of marriage is Fornication and if it is with someone married, it is also adultry.
THIS IS WHY IT SAYS IT IS BETTER TO MARRY!
The truth is that your bodies are holy vessels designed out of miry clay and given life from the breath of HIS spirit, sanctified for HIS pleasure and to bring HIM honor and glory.
There is not one function of your vessel that was not intended to bring him glory and honor and that includes our sexual desires.
We should not be teaching our children that they have natural desires of the flesh which they cannot control and that must be satisfied or else they eat us up inside.
We should be teaching our children that their bodies are holy vessels with which we have been given by God to bring glory to God and sex is a wonderful and glorious thing that God has given us as gift to give to our husbands or wives. It is a gift of Honor to be reverenced and when it is given in the right time and place to the right person, it is glorious and pleasurable and it glorifies God. It was not given to us for our pleasure, but in our giving it to our husbands and our wives, we are given great pleasure.
How very sad to take something so precious and so spiritual as sex and turn it into something so carnal in the minds of the children that God has given us to steward. They are not our children, but HIS children, and when we teach them such a humanistic view of our sexuality, we do HIM a great dis-service.
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002
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becauseHElives
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Member # 87
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posted
continued from the post just above....
It is impossible to masturbate without lustful thoughts, either with pictures on paper or pictures in he mind. Just like drugs, what satisfies today will not satisfy tommorrow!
Masturbation
by Dennis Rupert
INTRODUCTION
We live in a society that (for the most part) doesn't believe that there should be ANY limits to our sexual freedom or sexual pleasure. If you are coming to this web page as an atheist, then this page will probably no sense to you. That's not a slam at your intelligence - just a warning that this page is coming from a perspective about what God has said about masturbation. So if you are an atheist, you don't believe there is a God. You don't believe in a day of accountability before God (what the Bible calls Judgment Day). There are no Rules, i.e. absolute moral laws. Any morals that you do hold are changeable and you hold them because of tradition or social pressure (the herd mentality) or because you think they might be helpful for the survival of the human race. But basically, you do what you want and your view would be "Nobody has the right to tell me what to do (especially some deity that doesn't even exist)!" So don't read this page, it will probably just seem ridiculous to you.
If you are an evolutionist, then you believe that man is a highly evolved animal. Sexuality isn't a "soul issue" or a "spiritual issue" for you. (You probably don't believe in a soul, since evolution is about matter, energy and chance.) Sex and sexual pleasure is purely a physical function. It's just what animals do. To suggest that some sexual activities might be "right" and "wrong" might have made sense before the invention of contraception or medical treatment for sexual diseases, but in the 21st century it is old fashioned and unnecessary. This page will likely make you mad or at least seem like nonsense. Don't waste your time.
Christians, on the other hand, believe that there is a God. We also believe that the universe isn't an act of chance, but an intentional creation by a loving God with humans fashioned as the peak of God's creative activity. People were made separately and differently than the animals and plants (Genesis 2:7). We also believe that God is not silent. God has spoken in time and space (Hebrews 1:1-2). God has communicated to the "peak of His creation" through various events, miracles, prophets, and especially through sending His Son. In the midst of this communication, God said some things about sexuality. What the Creator said about sexuality is an absolute moral Law for all human beings and for all time. This revelation from God about sexuality contains promotions and prohibitions-- in other words sexual activity that God encourages and sexual activity that He discourages. He limits sexual experience and pleasure, so that human beings would not harm each other and that they would experience joy in the gift of sexuality.
SOME STATISTICS ABOUT MEN AND MASTURBATION
I've been told by women who have read this article that many of the ideas on this page also apply to them, but I have had little-to-no experience with the issue of women and masturbation. However, I have spent a considerable amount of time being a male. I've also talked with men, counseled men, and led men's groups which discussed sexual issues of all types. Therefore, please understand if my comments seem rather male oriented.
Psychologist Archibald Hart wrote a book entitled The Sexual Man (Waco, Texas: Word, 1994). His book contains surveys he conducted on the subject of masturbation. He surveyed married men who masturbate and asked them how they felt about their masturbation. Almost all (97 percent) said they did not "feel guilty." Only 2% thought that it was "shameful."
You would think that would mean that 97-98% of these men would say that masturbation was "normal." But what was unusual was that Dr. Hart could only find 13% of the men who said they "felt normal about masturbation." That's odd. So what does this mean? Either these men genuinely don't know how they feel or they have a lot of confusion about their feelings. On the one hand, "97 percent said they don't feel guilty, but only 13 percent said it felt normal."
I think these results show that a rationalization has taken place in our society. In spite of what society, movies, books, and "sex experts" tell us -- in spite of what men say they believe -- most men still don't feel "right" about masturbation. Many of the married and unmarried men I have spoken with actually "agonize" over their practice of masturbation. Why? Is this God's viewpoint? Is it the persuasive power of uptight Christians making people feel guilt about their masturbation?
FOUR IMPORTANT TRUTHS FROM THE BIBLE
Sex is good and right and pure. It was created by a loving, imaginative God for procreation and pleasure.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.... God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:27, 31.
A man will be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh. Genesis 2:24.
Rejoice in the wife of your youth! A loving doe, a graceful deer--may her breasts satisfy you at all times, my you ever be captivated by her love. Proverbs 5:18-19.
Take me away with you--let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his bed chambers! Song of Songs 1:4.
My lover is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills. Song of Songs 2:16-17.
God created sex to be ENJOYED. Sex was intended for pleasure. But (and here is God's limitation) sexual pleasure is always to happen within the proper context: a man and a woman who have committed their lives together in marriage.
THERE IS NO COMMANDMENT in the Bible regarding masturbation. In spite of what you thought I might say, I AM NOT SAYING THAT MASTURBATION IS WRONG. The Bible doesn't say that. In the absence of a clear command from God, we must always be careful of creating condemnation where God never intended it.
HOWEVER, we do have a clear command from God's Son Himself, concerning sexually lusting after a person who is not your spouse.
"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:28.
Contrary to our present culture which encourages looking at other people and "getting turned on," Jesus viewed this sin as being very serious. He urged people to radically deal with lust, and says that it is something that can keep us from eternal life (Matthew 5:29-30).
Therefore, if you are masturbating AND you are lusting after someone that you are not married to, then your masturbation/lust is a sin. Most people that I have spoken to on this issue, masturbate using pornography, images, or imagination to lust after someone who is not their spouse. Jesus called this "missing the mark" (the meaning of one of the Greek words for sin). You are committing a form of adultery. You are involved in something that is unhealthy for you and for those around you. This can have consequences for your eternal body. Jesus said: "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell" Matthew 5:27-30.
MASTURBATION AND MARRIAGE
Some single people imagine that masturbation is something they do, because "I don't have a spouse to met my needs." But masturbation does not stop magically when you get married. Archibald Hart in his book The Sexual Man claims "61 percent of all married men surveyed masturbate." Why?
Even in marriage, your sexual "needs" are not always met. Sex in marriage has its interruptions and boring times. Health problems, pregnancies, fatigue, stress, travel separations, neglect, and fights can effect your spouse's ability to be sexually intimate.
Spouses rarely have equal sexual desires and not all spouses are sensitive to the sexual desires of the other partner. This is why Paul said:
"The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control" (1 Corinthians 7:3-6).
Thought control does not always get easier after marriage; it sometimes gets harder because you are very aware of the delight of sexual fulfillment.
I have counseled with men who have a sensitive, caring, understanding spouse and a regular and fulfilling sexual relationship, but who still compulsively masturbate. This is a good indication that the problem is not with being sexually fulfilled, but something deeper. "Something in me, not my spouse."
THE DOWNSIDE OF MASTURBATION/LUST
Masturbation can become compulsive. This is certainly not true for everyone, but I've talked with men and women who masturbated up to 20 times a day. Any compulsive behavior such as this is unhealthy and stunts your ability to grow as a person. The Bible calls this sin - you are "missing the mark" (2 Peter 2:19). Like any other pleasure, masturbation can become an addiction. See How Sexual Experiences Become Addictions.
Many of the men I have counseled use masturbation as a form of emotional uplift. What I mean by this is that they don't know how to properly express or handle feelings of defeat, rejection, sadness, or depression. Masturbation becomes a temporary "high" and a substitute for learning how to properly handle negative feelings. In these cases, masturbation allowed the men to remain emotionally stunted. This spilled over into their relationships with other people, especially their wives or girl friends. One wife that I talked to said, "He uses me and masturbation like a pacifier."
As demonstrated by Archibald Hart's research, masturbation can cause guilt feelings or at the least a sense of "this is not normal." Feelings like this make it hard for you to relate to other people: "Other people don't seem to struggle with this, the way I do. What's wrong with me? I must be different. It's better if I hide this part of myself from other people." Guilt separates you from other people. Guilt also blunts your feelings toward God: "How could God love someone like me who struggles with lust?"
Sexual excitement starts in the mind, not your sex organs. Some individuals who compulsively masturbate need ever-increasing mental excitement to masturbate. They visualize wild sexual fantasies or use "hard pornography" (depicting sadism, rape, or child molestation) in order to masturbate. We'd like to think that fantasies are harmless and hurt no one. This is simply not true. As a man thinks in his heart, so he is. (Proverbs 23:7). Sexual fantasies are not at all like the loving physical relationship between a husband and wife. These fantasies will put a strain on your marriage by either comparing your spouse to your fantasies or insisting on your spouse participating in what "turns you on."
Fantasizing in your mind makes you want to enact your fantasies -- worse sin, big trouble. I've counseled individuals who began with a habit of masturbation and so-called "soft pornography." But they couldn't stop there. They ended up in practices of child molestation, rape, bestiality, time with prostitutes, cross-dressing, public exposure, and jail time. In spite of what our culture says, lust really can kill you.
Your lack of self-control in this area may make you susceptible to unfaithfulness in your marriage. If you cannot control your masturbation and fantasy lust (with other women), then what makes you believe you can be faithful in reality to your marriage partner?
The guilt you feel about masturbation/lust can be transferred to thinking that all sex is dirty and wrong. This is not a correct thought process at all. The Bible teaches that sex in (the right) context is good and wonderful. But if most of your sexual experiences lead to feelings of guilt, you can begin to think of all sexual experience as "dirty."
Because of the concentration on your own orgasm or release, masturbation can train you to be selfish in marital sex. Since masturbation is usually done quickly, it is not uncommon for masturbation to create a problem with pre-ejaculation in your sexual relationships.
TOOLS FOR OVERCOMING A CHRONIC HABIT OF MASTURBATION/LUST
Understand that the battle is the Lord's. You don't have the power in and of yourself to overcome masturbation (or any other chronic sin). You are actually pretty powerless and your Father will have to be the one to create righteousness in you. Rely on God to create new desires in your heart and to give you the fruit of peace and self-control. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, not you. You will be amazed as you trust in your Father at how the "want-to"s of your heart will really change over time. As a Christian you ARE being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). Don't simply grit your teeth and try harder. Ask God to do it. Trust Him to provide new desires. Participate in the miracle.
The key to self-control in masturbation/lust is thinking the right thoughts by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Romans 8:6-7.
Your mind controls your sexual arousal. Your most important sex organ is your mind. So let's begin the process of transforming your mind (Romans 12:2). Get these Scriptures into your head and heart. Quote them when you get up in the morning and whenever you are tempted. They will help you to renew your mind and the Holy Spirit will use them to teach you to think differently.
Romans 13:14 "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
Romans 8:6 "The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace."
John 8:34,36 "Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
Get a concordance and look up other verses about sexual immorality or who you are in Christ or the power of the Holy Spirit. Write these down and begin committing them to memory.
Work on victory only one day at a time:
Never think about getting victory for the rest of your life.
Here is the way to think: "My roommates are all out of the apartment. Lord, just let me get through this one afternoon."
Remind yourself how long it's been since the last time you masturbated/lusted.
"I've had victory for a whole week. Praise God! Now do I really want to go through that guilt again just to start over again? NO, not today!"
Remember and review the downside of masturbation/lust.
The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 1 Corinthians 16:13
If you sin, it's a little bit easier to sin the next time; but the opposite is also true -- resist and it will make you stronger.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7.
Resist the devil, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 Peter 5:9.
Engage in some type of strenuous exercise. "Go and burnout" and it will lessen the desire. One guy would go and do chin ups until his arms felt like they would fall off.
Therefore, I do not run like a man aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:26-27.
Avoid any situation that tempts you personally. Avoid it. Change it. Expose it. Purify your environment. Remove anything from your home or place of work that causes you to want to sin sexually -- books, magazines, DVDs, internet access, etc.
I will set before my eyes no vile thing. Psalm 101:3
Flee from sexual immorality. 1 Corinthians 6:18.
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22.
Find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. Ephesians 5:11.
Be accountable to another Christian brother. Call a Christian friend with whom you can fellowship during this time of temptation. See The Importance of Accountability (PDF file).
He who trusts in himself is a fool. Proverbs 28:26.
Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies. Let a righteous man strike me--it is a kindness; let him rebuke me--it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Psalm 141:4-5.
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:16.
Change your habits of thinking. This is also the area that will take the most work. Quick and easy victory is unlikely. This is a war, not just a battle.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. Romans 12:2.
Ask the Lord to show you why you have wrong desires. Give some serious thought to figuring out WHY you masturbation. A chronic habit of masturbation is usually a emotional substitute for something. It's like a drug we use to anesthetize our emotional pain. Are you using masturbation to overcome sadness, lack of self-esteem, feelings of rejection, or fear of failure? If so, then you are confusing psychological/spiritual issues with sex. Masturbating isn't going to help you mature emotionally. It will only keep you childlike. Take some time to really figure out what masturbation is being used for in your life. Then separate out the psychological issues from God's gift of sex. Ask God to reveal any burdens or anxieties you are carrying, then give them back to Him.
Changing your habits of thinking may require talking with someone. A wise Christian brother or a Christian counselor can be invaluable in pointing out different ways of thinking and acting.
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed. Proverbs 15:22.
Get in the habit of praising and thanking God for the way you are, including your sex organs. Thank Him for making you a sexual being and ask Him to help you control yourself so you can enjoy sex in its proper context.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14.
If you yield to the temptation, confess as soon as possible, and don't dwell on it. You will feel guilty, because you have given in to your flesh and have obeyed it desires, but don't keep punishing yourself about it. "For every one look at your sin, look ten times at the mercy of Jesus." Rejoice in the cleansing, forgiving power of the blood of Jesus Christ. Your standing with God, your Father is because of Jesus' rightness, not yours. Renew fellowship with your Father immediately and again reckon yourself "dead to sin, but alive to God."
Grow spiritually. Don't stop serving or learning. Sometimes guilt makes us feel like we are not worthy to serve in the church or associate with other Christians. That is Satan's trap to keep you away from God's grace (Romans 8:1). Don't run from the "streams of God's grace": fellowship, teaching, communion, Bible study, using your spiritual gifts. Stay involved and active. Becoming more like Christ in other areas will help you in this one.
For more on weapons to use in your battle against lust see Weapons for the War.
http://www.new-life.net/mastrbte.htm
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Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
Posts: 4578 | From: Southeast Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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becauseHElives
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Member # 87
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posted
White Eagle, it is not about compassion. i am very compassinate. I hurt deeply for the Jeffery Dahmer's of this world. I could have been one except for the "GRACE" of Yahweh. I am not talking about the unmerrited favor of God, that is not what grace is. Grace is Yahweh's power, divine influence on the heart of mankind that causes a person to live accourding to what pleases Yahweh. (look up "Grace" in Strong's Concordance)
If Yeshua was here and someone with the prob;em of masturbation was brought before Him, Yesjua would not say no big deal, go ahead and releive your flustrations. (He would say stop go and sin no more)
The same is true of what yhe Apostle Paul, Peter. James, John or anyother writer of the scripture would say, because they all wrote under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit.
Talking about a "Big Mac" eating is a part of living, but "living to eat" is another matter.
If someone is struggling with sin, we must pray for them, incouraging them with scriture, show them the right thing to do.
Not codoning the sin say everybody sins a little everyday.
In 1 Corinthians 6:12, and again at 10:23, Saul (the Apostle Paul) writes,
"All things are Lawful for me, but not all things edify."
All things are Lawful. You can't get any clearer than that! The Torah (Law, teaching, 'Old Testament') no longer applies. 'In Christ' anything is allowed (though perhaps some choices are better than others).
But is that really what this verse means?
One of the roles of God's love-letter to us, the Bible, is to teach us what sin is. Sin has consequences. It affects our relationships with God and one another. The "Law" (Torah) teaches that confession, atonement and repentance are needed to restore fellowship.
Yeshua (Jesus), the perfect lamb, is my atoning sacrifice. He is my cleansing. He nullifies death. All things are done Lawfully each time I confess a sin, offer Yeshua as my sacrifice, and repent (turn away from the sin and back to God).
So "All things are Lawful" does not mean, "Everything is approved of," or even, "Everything is allowed." "All things are Lawful," means, "All things are being done Lawfully." Each time I confess, offer my sacrifice, and repent, I am doing so in accordance with Torah.
Rather than saying the Torah has been done away with, 1 Cor 6:12 and 10:23 depend on its ongoing validity. They teach its application-by-faith in the life of every believer.
(And of course, always remember: To obey is better than sacrifice! 1 Sam 15:22.)
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Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
Posts: 4578 | From: Southeast Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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WhiteEagle
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quote:
Originally posted by becauseHElives:
]If I need sex with children to satisfy my sexual appetite, I should go for it (all things are lawful, just not expedient. Just go to jail. Its man law I have to obey not Yahweh’s, all His laws have been abolished at the cross. Because it is illegal in civil court is nothing to me, I am free from the law of sin and death. If I get caught molesting children, the only punishment is going to mans jail, is all I will get. After all isn't my happiness and fulfillment in life what Christ came to do for me.
If I need a prostitute to help gratify my sexual needs, just go get her. Don't worry about bringing the body under submission. If it feels good do it, all things are legal, just not expedient. (Don't worry about their eternal soul, Yahweh is going to send them where He predestined from the beginning of time.)
Don’t stop there, if you can find sexual gratification in homosexual relationship, go for it. You will only lose your rewards in eternity, after all you have eternal salvation.
This one time praying for salvation, all temptations and trails that come after you have been saved, don't worry about it have sex with anyone you like, have anal sex if you like all thing legal, why stop there bestiality is an option for satisfying those sexual desires.
Fight the good fight of faith. This fight of faith includes a war with the old nature of Adam that still exist. Every child of Yahweh has a dual nature. And to which nature you yeild will be whom you serve. You are in the light only as you walk in the light. We are ingaged in a fight for the souls of mankind. We are not fighting other people with gun and stuff. we are fighting Satan and his demon forces as he comes against our souls. Satan is seeking whom he may destroy. Some he will destroy just their flsh , other he will cause to lose out on eternal salvation.
Jesus said: What comes out of one's mouth is waht defiles, not what one takes in.
Paul wrote: All things are legal, but not all things edify or are expedient.
We are discussing "masterbation". We are not discussing prositution, homsexuality, or incest or having sex with children.
The New Testament has commandments against all these things explicitly, so these are not the "legal" things that Paul is referring to in our Freedom in Christ. These all fall under "sexual immorality". Sexual immorality is when one is joined with another person physcially . Masterbation is done alone without connection to anyone else.
Not very fullfilling, but it's not explicitly defined in the Bible as a sin.
We have a natural human need to eat food, to sustain our bodies physical growth and for physical strength. Is the "temptation" for Food a sin?
Sometimes we might desire the Supersized Big Mac, which is lawful for us, but does it edify our bodies? Some people pervert the natural desire for food by overeating, and gluttony. Does that make the rest of us "sinful" because we might on a rare occasion decide to have the Supersized Big Mac meal?
I'm not saying that masterbation is Good, by any means. I'm saying let's have some compassion on those who are weaker.
Posts: 1392 | From: Maine | Registered: Aug 2004
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WhiteEagle
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by RioLion:
From a medical standpoint, masturbation is simply 'another manifestation of the natural sex drives of young persons ... prohibited by the rules and regulations of modern society from fulfilling sex urges in the same manner as married couples, teenagers discover they can find sexual satisfaction in masturbation. Despite the stories that warn of physical or mental decay for youngsters who masturbate, there is no evidence that the practice is harmful unless the parents make an issue of it. If there are dangers in masturbation, they are likely to be the isolated and loneliness associated with the practice and the confusion and anxiety which can result if the youngster feels guilty or is punished or criticized for masturbating. Masturbation is such a natural reaction that most youngsters discover it by themselves even if the subject is never discussed by friends or family members. Like many other matters that seem important during the teenage years, masturbation usually diminished as a matter of concern as adulthood is reached.' (Medical & Health Encyclopedia)
I tend to believe that those that indulge in this practice are not engaging in pornography as by definition that is 'the depiction of erotic behavior intended to cause sexual excitement'. Howbeit pornography may induce one to masturbate as it aids in the sexual fantasies often necessary to complete the act.
Thank you, you wrote what I was struggling to write somehow without getting too graphic, and I agree with LaurieL also, that for young people going through puberty, it's quite Natural to experience sexual arousal without even trying.
It's natural for us to want to have relationships with the opposite sex, God told Adam and Eve and again to Noah,"Be fruitful and multiply". Sexual feelings are just as natural as hunger for food, and the need for Love.
Masterbation is not really very fulfilling when compared to true sexual relationship with one'
s loving partner in marriage. Masterbation is a LONELY activity, and again there is NO explicit command against masterbation.
God put the sexual desires in our human body, and while through sin this is often perverted, having natural sexual desire is NOT a sin.
Jesus does have severe warning to those who" harm one of the little ones", so any adult engaging in sex with a child is a sin.
If young people masterbate to refrain from fornication, and are not looking at porn, and it's just their God-Given natural process of human growth in exploring their own body, it is NOT a Sin.
Posts: 1392 | From: Maine | Registered: Aug 2004
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becauseHElives
Advanced Member
Member # 87
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posted
Linda I thought you a fairly intelligent lady, but if I understand this correctly what you are saying is staggeringly anti Christian. Please tell me I am misunderstanding your thoughts.
quote:
All things are legal; all things do not profit or edify. I will seek that which does both profit and edify in this regard. I have experienced that which is legal but does not profit and edify and it does not compare to sex as God by his design intended sex to be.
If I need sex with children to satisfy my sexual appetite, I should go for it (all things are lawful, just not expedient. Just go to jail. Its man law I have to obey not Yahweh’s, all His laws have been abolished at the cross. Because it is illegal in civil court is nothing to me, I am free from the law of sin and death. If I get caught molesting children, the only punishment is going to mans jail, is all I will get. After all isn't my happiness and fulfillment in life what Christ came to do for me.
If I need a prostitute to help gratify my sexual needs, just go get her. Don't worry about bringing the body under submission. If it feels good do it, all things are legal, just not expedient. (Don't worry about their eternal soul, Yahweh is going to send them where He predestined from the beginning of time.)
Don’t stop there, if you can find sexual gratification in homosexual relationship, go for it. You will only lose your rewards in eternity, after all you have eternal salvation.
This one time praying for salvation, all temptations and trails that come after you have been saved, don't worry about it have sex with anyone you like, have anal sex if you like all thing legal, why stop there bestiality is an option for satisfying those sexual desires.
Fight the good fight of faith. This fight of faith includes a war with the old nature of Adam that still exist. Every child of Yahweh has a dual nature. And to which nature you yeild will be whom you serve. You are in the light only as you walk in the light. We are ingaged in a fight for the souls of mankind. We are not fighting other people with gun and stuff. we are fighting Satan and his demon forces as he comes against our souls. Satan is seeking whom he may destroy. Some he will destroy just their flsh , other he will cause to lose out on eternal salvation.
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Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
Posts: 4578 | From: Southeast Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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RioLion
unregistered
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posted
From a medical standpoint, masturbation is simply 'another manifestation of the natural sex drives of young persons ... prohibited by the rules and regulations of modern society from fulfilling sex urges in the same manner as married couples, teenagers discover they can find sexual satisfaction in masturbation. Despite the stories that warn of physical or mental decay for youngsters who masturbate, there is no evidence that the practice is harmful unless the parents make an issue of it. If there are dangers in masturbation, they are likely to be the isolated and loneliness associated with the practice and the confusion and anxiety which can result if the youngster feels guilty or is punished or criticized for masturbating. Masturbation is such a natural reaction that most youngsters discover it by themselves even if the subject is never discussed by friends or family members. Like many other matters that seem important during the teenage years, masturbation usually diminished as a matter of concern as adulthood is reached.' (Medical & Health Encyclopedia)
I tend to believe that those that indulge in this practice are not engaging in pornography as by definition that is 'the depiction of erotic behavior intended to cause sexual excitement'. Howbeit pornography may induce one to masturbate as it aids in the sexual fantasies often necessary to complete the act.
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LaurieFL
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I personally think that one reason (one of the many reasons) this has become a problem (this and fornication) is that we were deisgned to begin having sexual relations at a fairly young age, i.e. in our teens. Until this century, mots people were married by the time they were 16 or so, weren't they? It would seem to me to be a lot simpler to avoid masturbation and fornication, were our timetables more in sync with nature.
I am not condoning anything at all here (quite the opposite), but I just feel that the way society has delayed the typical marriage age perpetuates a multitiude of sexual sins.
Also, just as a comment, I don't think looking at pornographic materials is necessarily always the way people get "aroused" at improper times, which BHL said. I think the sex drive in humans is strong and people can find themsleves feeling aroused without having even given a thought to sexual matters at all! This is especially true for teenage boys, so I have heard.
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helpforhomeschoolers
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Member # 15
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posted
Why can't you believe it BHL, the percentage of people in the church that hold a secular humanistic world view rather than a scriptural one is staggering.
In this world , Sex is reduced to something that our bodies must have, something about us, rather than a precious and glorious gift from God that is an expression of the purest kind of love in which we are blessed through the abandon of self and the seeking of all that is good and pleasurable for another...our help meet and perfect gift given to us by God.
All things are legal; all things do not profit or edify. I will seek that which does both profit and edify in this regard. I have experienced that which is legal but does not profit and edify and it does not compare to sex as God by his design intended sex to be.
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002
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becauseHElives
Advanced Member
Member # 87
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posted
I can not believe I am reading comments by any professing Child of the living God that would say that “maturation” is an acceptable release of sexual feeling in any born again Child of Yahweh.
Masturbation is a sin against your own body and a sin against Yahweh and if you continue to masturbate, Unrepentant of that sin thinking you are safe in the Grace of Yahweh, how sad you will be on that day He separates the sheep and the goats to eternal life or eternal death.
Either you do not know anything about what you speak or you are the voice of Satan just as Yeshua told Peter “get thee behind me Satan” when Peter said it could not be that Yeshua should die.
From the time I was 13 till I was twenty-one maturation was my life. But no sin left to it sin unchecked will remain a little sin. Sin only grows, just as a little leaven in dough does.
Masturbation is perversion, it is self love to the max.
You can be assured, call yourself a Christian if you want, but if you are masturbating and there is no conviction of the Holy Spirit of the wrong (sin) you are doing. You have never been saved or the Spirit of Yahweh has departed. (once saved always saved is a lie from the pit of hell)
You play with any sin long enough and that sin will bring you to total destruction.
The Child Molester of this world started off with maturation.
CHAPTER 134 — THE HARMFUL EFFECT OF PORNOGRAPHY
American Life League*
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The recovery of moral control and the return of spiritual order have now become the indispensable conditions of human survival.
Cultural Historian Christopher Dawson.[1]
Anti-Life Philosophy.
I don't think pornography degrades women. The women who are doing it want to do it. No one is holding a gun to their head. I don't get that whole thing.
Madonna, Sex (1992).[2]
Pornography is merely a "safety valve" that people use to dissipate their sexual urges. Its effect is 'cathartic' this means that persons who otherwise might act out their violent sexual fantasies on other persons may instead use their pornography harmlessly.
Introduction.
The deleterious effects of pornography both 'soft' and 'hard' are damaging and pervasive. Respected research teams have performed more than 500 studies upon these effects, and their conclusions are concrete, consistent, and unassailable.
Many important relationships appear consistently throughout these studies. The six conclusions regarding the impacts of pornography that are listed below are also presented in David Scott's summary study Pornography, Its Effects on the Family, Community, and Culture.[3] Note that these conclusions are not the result of single or grouped random studies; the number of studies that arrive at each conclusion are listed in the appropriate paragraphs of this chapter and are taken directly from Scott's work.
The detailed reference material on all studies is also listed at the end of Scott's book. This listing would be of great value to anyone performing research on the impacts of pornography.
The six major effects of pornography are summarized below, and are described in the following paragraphs.
THE PRIMARY EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY
(1) Even "soft" porn is harmful to everyone.
(2) All pornography desensitizes the viewer.
(3) Pornography is addictive.
(4) Pornography degrades marriages.
(5) Pornography increases crime in dangerous offenders.
(6) Pornography encourages and facilitates other crimes.
Reference. These impacts are also listed in The Hill-Link Minority Report of the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. A copy of this report, written in 1970, may be ordered from Morality in Media, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10115.
(1) Even "Soft" Porn is Harmful to Everyone!
Eighteen separate studies have shown that "soft" porn, which involve acts between consenting adults, definitely desensitizes all viewers, and may lead to extremely violent behavior.[4]
Pornography adversely affects every person who views it not only the dangerous sex offender caricatured in cartoons, but everyone. It interferes with interpersonal relationships and personal moral development in all persons who view it.
In fact, soft-core porn has been involved in numerous adolescent male suicides. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reported many cases where a young male will suspend himself by the neck from a rope and masturbate while holding a soft-core magazine in the hope of attaining an extremely intense orgasm. Not surprisingly, these deaths (classified as "autoerotic asphyxiation") are not often made public. It is estimated that about 1,000 such accidental suicides occur in the United States each year. In many cases, the issue of Hustler magazine that describes how to perform the so-called "orgasm of death" have been found at the feet of the victims.[5]
In many cases, even young kids have unwittingly killed their friends and siblings while following suggestions that have been printed in "soft-core" magazines, proving that it is not only hardened perverts and criminals who are adversely affected by porn.
For example, Zacharian Hurt, 13, read a porn magazine and then carefully wrapped shoelaces around the necks of two boys his 8-year old brother, Benjamin, and Todd Pigg, Jr., 7 and pulled them tight, accidentally strangling them.
(2) All Pornography Desensitizes the Viewer.
All pornography soft, hard, and even 'neutral' sex-education materials, desensitize the viewer and allow him to become conditioned to sexual acts, violent and nonviolent, as an integral part of human behavior. This conclusion has been reached in 26 separate studies.[4]
An interesting 1984 Gallup survey showed that two-thirds of respondents believed that viewing violence on television was harmful to others, but only five percent believed that such viewing was harmful to themselves.[4]
Leading sexual violence researchers Neil Malamuth, Ed Donnerstein, and Dolf Zillman state that, in general,
Pornography desensitizes. Exposure to these materials, whether violent or nonviolent, coercive or noncoercive, experimentally increases male aggressive behavior against women, and decreases both male and female sensitivity to rape and the plight of the rape victim. Both males and females, after viewing this material, judge the female rape victim to be less injured, less worthy, and more responsible for her own plight.[6]
This research showed that, after brief exposure to pornography, fully two-thirds of normal male college students would be more willing to force a woman into sexual acts if they could be assured of not being caught or punished. One-third of the students expressed an increased desire to actually commit rape.[6] These are frightening changes in attitude, considering that most rapes are not even reported.
Pornography is particularly effective at desensitizing emotionally disturbed persons. At least 26 studies have shown definitively that emotionally disturbed individuals and those with a tendency towards violent acts may be significantly desensitized for several weeks after exposure to three hours of violent and/or pornographic films.[4]
(3) Pornography is Addictive.
Several studies have shown that all persons, normal and unbalanced, who view pornography develop a yearning for ever more deviant materials, just as drug addicts crave stronger and stronger drugs. All persons fantasize about more deviant acts and materials and many even incorporate them into their sexual relationships. Many persons begin to employ more violent methods in their sexual relations.
British psychiatrists Martin Roth and Edward Nelson state that "Far from having a cathartic effect, exposure to pornography produces an enhanced interest in sexual deviancy."[7]
Donnerstein, Zillman, and Malamuth report that "Massive exposure to nonviolent, noncoercive standard-fare pornography created an appetite for more unusual, bizarre and deviant materials, including violence in a sexual context such as depictions of sadomasochism and rape."
As with drug users, those who use pornography need more and more deviant materials to maintain their previous level of sexual arousal.[4]
(4) Pornography Degrades Marriages.
Pornography users generally view material that shows attractive women performing almost any type of act with any number of men (or animals, for that matter). The users begin to expect that their wives should also perform acts that are at least a little more 'adventurous" or 'experimental' that those they are used to, and will become dissatisfied when their non-using partners will not live up to their porn-induced fantasies. They may even become dissatisfied with their wive's physical imperfections. The wives, of course, will become disgusted and repelled by their husband's increasingly deviant behavior.
The husbands or boyfriends then often turn to prostitutes, who are accustomed to handling bizarre requests.[3,8]
(5) Pornography Increases Crime in Dangerous Offenders.
Introduction.
More than 65 studies have shown that dangerous offenders (child molesters, killers, rapists, incest fathers) are not only more likely to commit their crimes if they employ pornography, they are likely to precede their violent acts with the extended use of deviant materials.[4] Male sex offenders soon begin to display addictive and compulsive behavior when using porn. Their mechanisms for relieving stress soon all become related to deviant sex. They offend more and more often.
About two million pedophiles, rapists, child molesters, sadists, and those who solicit teenaged or child prostitutes commit more than two million crimes annually. This number accounts only for those incidents that are reported the total number is obviously much higher.
Examples. Those naive individuals who cling to the quaint and outmoded belief that pornography is 'victimless' should wake up and look at the facts. Thousands of persons have been tortured, raped, and murdered by warped human beings as a direct result of pornography. There are thousands of such cases cramming police files all over the nation.
Some instances of pornography-driven murder and rape are described in the following paragraphs.
Jeffrey Dahmer.
Jeffrey Dahmer, a convicted child molester and confessed homosexual, lured 17 young men to his apartment, had sex with them, then killed them and dismembered them. He ate parts of his victim's bodies, dissolved some parts in acid, and stored some of the heads and other body parts in his refrigerator.
Dahmer admitted that he kept one man's heart "to eat later."
Dahmer was active in 'gay rights' organizations and had participated in 'gay pride' parades. Police also found massive quantities of hard-core pornography and videotapes in his apartment.[9]
Ted Bundy.
On January 24, 1988, the day before he was executed for murder, Ted Bundy stated in an interview with Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family that; "In the beginning, it [pornography] fuels this kind of thought process ... Like an addiction, you keep craving something that is harder, harder, something which gives you a greater sense of excitement until you reach a point where the pornography only goes so far, you reach that jumping-off point where you begin to wonder if maybe actually doing it would give you that which is beyond just reading or looking at it."
When Focus on the Family published the results of this important interview, it was met with hoots of derision from the Left, which correctly recognized that it was accurate and compelling. Obviously, the only persons who attacked this interview were those who supported or profited hugely from pornography.
Arthur Gary Bishop.
Arthur Gary Bishop, who was executed in Utah in 1983 for sodomizing and killing five boys aged 4 to 13, stated that; "Pornography was not the only negative influence in my life, but its effect on me was devastating. I am a homosexual pedophile convicted of murder, and pornography was a determining factor in my downfall."
The Miami Pillow Case Rapist.
FBI scientists at Quantico, Virginia, commented on the role of pornography and its effect upon the Miami Pillow Case Rapist; "He collected Playboy, then Penthouse magazines ... and dreamed of rape. Then he slipped over the threshold of fantasy into the reality of sexual assault."
Ray Bauer.
Porn addict Ray Bauer of St. Louis often forced his wife of 29 years to watch hard-core movies and then bound and tortured her. Finally, in April of 1986, Mrs. Bauer could take no more, and shot her husband to death after one particularly violent torture episode. Her back, chest, and buttocks were heavily scarred with whip marks, and a search of the house uncovered her husband's extensive collection of violent sado-masochistic pornography and instruments of torture.[10]
Zinn and His 'Product.'
Pornographers always tell us that porn is victimless.
This story proves differently.
In January of 1986, Linda Lee Daniels, 22, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was kidnapped in broad daylight from her driveway by three young men, whose intent was to use her against her will in a pornographic movie.
The movie producer, Johnny Zinn, told these hirelings that he wanted a blonde "product" for his movie and that he would pay them $1,500 if they could find a woman who fit these specifications.
After they kidnapped Daniels, they drugged and raped her all night long (taking a film of the entire sequence of rapes). The following morning's papers carried Daniels' picture, so Zinn ordered his henchmen to kill her. They shot her repeatedly as she pleaded for her life.
Zinn received a life sentence. Two of the three accomplices, although found guilty of rape, are already free and roaming the streets, perhaps searching for more 'products.'[11]
FBI Findings.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation found that eighty percent (29 of 36) of recent mass murderers used pornography extensively and used it as an integral part of their murderous sexual activity, which often included serial rape-murders.[4] Some of these killers photographed their dead victims and pasted cutouts of their faces on hard- and soft-core pornographic pictures as preparation for their next 'kill.' The FBI and police nationwide have reported finding extensive pornography collections in the homes of virtually every mass-murderer and child molester that they arrest.
Pornography and Rape.
Chapter 18 of the Attorney General Pornography Commission's study noted that the eight major men's magazines (Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler, Chic, Club, Gallery, Genesis, and Oui) have a circulation rate five times higher in Alaska and Nevada than in North Dakota.[12] It is very significant that the rape rates in Alaska and Nevada are eight times higher than in North Dakota!
Conclusions. Other researchers have confirmed that 64 percent of all homosexual child molesters and 86 percent of all rapists used pornography at or immediately before the time of their crimes.
Figure 134-1 shows the results of a survey of more than 400 young prison offenders. This study proved that those prisoners who had been exposed to a large amount of pornography were much more likely to engage in violent and sexually deviant behavior than those prisoners who had not been exposed to pornography.
FIGURE 134-1
THE EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY ON YOUNG MALE PRISON OFFENDERS
[A medium text size on your computer's 'view' setting is recommended, otherwise, the tables may be discombobulated.]
Exposure to
Pornography Ratio,
Criteria Low High High/Low
First intercourse at age 11 or younger 37% 53% 1.43
First intercourse at age 14 or younger 65% 86% 1.32
Intercourse with 7 or more partners 63% 96% 1.52
Intercourse with more than one
person at a time 35% 59% 1.69
Engaged in oral-genital contact 16% 49% 3.06
Frequent anal intercourse 20% 40% 2.00
Participation in orgies and
soliciting prostitutes 44% 78% 1.77
Belong to high anti-social crime group
(friends in prison or reform school,
friends dealing in stolen goods,
friends who were members of gangs) 55% 82% 1.49
Reference. David A. Scott. "Pornography Its Effects on the Family, Community, and Culture." Published by the Child and Family Protection Institute and Contact America. Order from Family Policy Insights, 721 Second Street NE, Washington, DC 20002.
(6) Pornography Directly Promotes Other Crimes.
Introduction.
The above section shows beyond the faintest shadow of a doubt that pornography users routinely engage in a wide range of violent and sadistic crimes, committed not only against themselves, but against other persons as well.
Child Molestation.
The pornography pushers also promote child molestation by trivializing sex acts between adults and children and by purposely blurring the line between adult sex and adults having sex with children.
Organizations such as the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) and the Rene Guyon Society, both of which lobby for the elimination of age-of-consent laws, are involved heavily with the homosexual movement and with hard-core pornography.
For more details on the connection of child molestation to pornography and homosexuality, see Chapter 137, "Pornography and Child Molestation."
However, it is also an established fact that porn kings use their great wealth and influence to directly promote illegal acts in their magazines, including the use of dangerous drugs. This is in keeping with their hedonistic, "anything goes" philosophy.
Drug Use.
According to Dr. Judith Reisman, the president of Washington's Institute for Media Education, the legalization of all types of drug use has been a primary financial, editorial, and legislative goal of the Playboy empire since 1966. The first indication that Playboy was going to champion drug use and legalization was in its September 1966 issue, when it interviewed Timothy Leary in a very ingratiating manner.
In 1970, the Playboy Foundation formally underwrote attorney Keith Stroup's establishment of the National Organization for the Repeal of Marijuana Laws (NORML). In late 1971, the Foundation contributed $100,000, the first of many large periodic grants, to NORML for its 1972 pro-drug campaign.
Playboy has continued to infuse massive editorial and financial assistance to drug legalization since 1970. In 1973 and 1975, Playboy-backed NORML efforts resulted in the decriminalization of marijuana in Oregon and Alaska respectively. Playboy Magazine has published fictional stories lionizing drug-using heros, has printed drug-use charts, and has served as a platform for numerous pro-drug spokesmen, from Timothy Leary to All-American defensive back Don Rogers (who later died of a drug overdose).[13]
Conclusions.
According to Congressional sources, illegal drugs are a $70 billion a year business. We now have 20 million people who use marijuana frequently, 7 million who use cocaine frequently, and half a million heroin addicts.[14] Our society is literally drowning in a flood of drugs, and no child is safe from drugs and molestation especially yours!
The very last thing we need is a group of rich lechers egging the drug pushers on with illogical rhetoric in their glossy, expensive magazines.
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References: The Effects of Pornography.
[1] Cultural historian Christopher Dawson, at the 1947 Gifford Lectures, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Quoted in the National Federation for Decency Journal, November/December 1987.
[2] Madonna, Sex (1992). Quoted in Suzan Bibisi, Los Angeles Daily News. "Madonna: Sex Has Some Raunchy Text, Artistic Photography." The Vancouver [Washington] Columbian, October 22, 1992, page B2.
[3] David A. Scott. "Pornography Its Effects on the Family, Community, and Culture." Published by the Child and Family Protection Institute and Contact America. Order from Family Policy Insights, 721 Second Street NE, Washington, DC 20002.
[4] The Hill-Link Minority Report of the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. This report may be ordered from Morality in Media, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10115.
[5] R. Hazelwood, P. Dietz, and A. Burgess. "The Investigation of Autoerotic Fatalities." Journal of Police Science and Administration. September 1981, 404-411. See also the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 25, 1990.
[6] P. Zimbardo. "Sexual Murderers." Psychology Today, November 1977, pages 69 to 76 and 148.
[7] "Porn Traffickers Share Guilt in Sexual Murders." The Wanderer, March 9, 1989, page 2.
[8] Frank Morriss. "Pornography and the Degradation of Society." The Wanderer, February 9, 1989, page 4.
[9] Michael C. Buelow. "Police Believe Suspect Killed 17." The Oregonian, July 26, 1991, pages A1 and A24. Also: "Relative in Dahmer Case Sues." USA Today, August 6, 1991, page 3A. Also October 1991 Focus on the Family letter.
[10] "Woman Kills Porn Addict Husband." National Federation for Decency Journal, May/June 1986, page 7.
[11] Dixie L, Gallery, mother of the victim. "Co-ed Picked at Random is Kidnapped, Raped, Murdered By Pornographers." National Federation for Decency Journal, April 1987, page 5.
[12] Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography. Rutledge Hill Press, 513 Third Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37210. 1986, 571 pages.
[13] "American Drug Culture Has Roots in Playboy." National Federation for Decency Journal, November/December 1986, page 4.
[14] News of Interest. "Drug Use Continues to Grow." National Federation for Decency Journal, August 1987, page 15.
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Further Reading: The Effects of Pornography.
Greenhaven Press. Sexual Values: Opposing Viewpoints.
Greenhaven Press Opposing Viewpoints Series, Post Office Box 289009, San Diego, California 92128-9009. 1983, 155 pages. Each section includes several essays by leading authorities on both sides of each issue. The questions asked are: "Is Nonmarital Sex Acceptable?;" "Does Sex Education Belong in Schools?;" "Is Homosexuality Acceptable?;" "Is Pornography Harmful?;" and "Should Prostitution Be a Crime?" Authors include Jeremiah A. Denton, Jr., Susan Brownmiller, Gail Sheehy, and Phyllis Schlafly. A catalog is available from the above address and can be obtained by calling 1-(800) 231-5163.
Father Morton Hill and Dr. Winfrey Link. The Hill-Link Minority Report of the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography.
The majority report, issued in 1970, gave a "Magna Carta" to pornographers by taking the blame off their shoulders. Porn was deemed "cathartic" by the majority, a heretofore unproven conclusion. While the pro-pornography media hailed the majority report as "intellectual" and "open-minded," the common-sense minority report of Father Morton Hill and Dr. Winfrey Link, which devastatingly refuted the majority report, was predictably branded "angry" and "virulent." This report may be ordered from Morality in Media, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10115.
Judith Reisman, Ph.D., President of the Institute for Media Education. "The Role of Pornography and Media Violence in Family Violence, Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, and Juvenile Delinquency."
Study sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention at American University in Washington, D.C. The 24-page executive summary of this 2,000 page report and a packet of material on the exploitation of children in Playboy, Penthouse, and Hustler Magazines may be obtained by sending a large, self-addressed stamped envelope, with a small fee, to Dr. Judith Reisman, Institute for Media Education, Post Office Box 7404, Arlington, Virginia 22207, telephone: (703) 237-5455. The Executive Summary, which is ideal for giving to store managers who might be carrying this soft-core porn is available by itself (without the additional materials) from the American Family Association, Post Office Drawer 2440, Tupelo, Mississippi 38803. Prices vary.
Roman Catholic Church, Vatican Pontifical Commission for Social Communications. "Pornography and Violence in the Communications Media: A Pastoral Response."
Letter dated May 16, 1989. Available from the Office for Publishing and Promotion Services, United States Catholic Conference, 3211 Fourth Street N.E., Washington, D.C., 20017-1194.
David A. Scott. "Pornography Its Effects on the Family, Community, and Culture."
Published by the Child and Family Protection Institute and Contact America. Order from Family Policy Insights, 721 Second Street NE, Washington, DC 20002.
© American Life League BBS — 1-703-659-7111
This is a chapter of the Pro-Life Activist’s Encyclopedia published by American Life League.
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Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
Posts: 4578 | From: Southeast Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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HisGrace
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I am not going to tell anyone that they shouldn't masturbate, but sin starts out very innocently at first.
RioLion's story shows how it can escalate into something more perverse and disgusting. It helped to break up that man's marriage.
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WhiteEagle
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quote:
Originally posted by Crusader:
Ok were gone over sex, and if has been proven by everyone here that having it before your married is a sin. But what about masterbation? Is that also a sin?
Paul wrote that all things were lawful, but not all things were expedient.
I see masterbation by itself as better than committing fornication. We are human. There is no explicit command against it.
But like drinking alcohol, it can be addictive especially if one is using pornography.
I don't see occasionaly practice of this as a "sin", if one does it to keep themselves pure for marriage, and to release the sexual tension.
Our bodies do have certain "needs", and while we as Christians CAN control our lusts by following precepts given in the Bible we still are human.
Can we forever stop eating food, or hold our bladders forever?
If one becomes addicted to the practice and prefers it to striving to having a relationship with their married partner, then it would be a "sin".
I guess I relate it to drinking alcohol. One drink on occassion is not sinful, if one's heart is right. I mean not drinking to excess. Of course we know that alcohol is tricky, and many become addicted. We don't know if we are one of those who can be moderate or one who will become an alcoholic.
Anyway, one shouldn't condemn themselves for needing to masterbate once in while. If one makes masterbation their "god", then it is a sin.
Posts: 1392 | From: Maine | Registered: Aug 2004
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RioLion
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Masturbation and the associated guilt therein has often been the means by which priests in the confessionals successfully invade the lives of teenagers. Such a practice is considered a mortal sin in the Roman Church and must be confessed.
I have educated my sons that there are some things that are very personal and should be kept to themselves unless it becomes a real problem.
A study of animals indicates that this is a practice often shared by all mammals. yes, it is debateable as to what extent animal behavior is related to human behavior.
While I believe that there is a flavor of misguideness or selfishness involved here, I would caution one about dealing too much upon guilt; that one should try to exercise self discipline in all matters of this nature. Marriage is often the solution to this kind of problem.
It is a good idea to avoid things that would promote such sexual practice; things such a graphic pictures, books, pornography, etc. as such things affect the mental health of those that would involve themselves. For instance, my daughter's ex husband was found masturbating at sights he was viewing on the internet. ![[type]](graemlins/type.gif) And that in part, was one of the reasons she disposed of him.
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Crusader
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quote:
Originally posted by helpforhomeschoolers:
crusader I think your comment was both rude and inaccurate. I never implied that masturbation would send anyone to hell. Last time I checked sin sends people to hell and the only sin that cannot be forgiven is the one that is not washed in the blood of the Lamb.
THere are many things that we can do in this life that will cause us to miss out on the truely glorious blessings that God has for us in this life, but still they will not send us to hell.
I have never ever judged wheter a person is hell bound or not and I do not appreciate that you would imply I do, even in jest if that is what that was... in jest.
And, do not EVER quote me as saying something on this board that I did not say. I never said was a NO NO. Those were your words not mine.
I gave sound reason why it is not the best God has for us and if you disagree fine; but do not misquote me.
Thank you.
Linda
You have my truly heart felt apologizes. I didnt mean to misquote you. On the site that I am usually at we take what the person is tring to sum up and reply to that. I thought the gist of what you told me was that its not ok. I never ment to be rude or make fun of you at all.
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Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and unless you save me I am lost forever. I thank you for dying for me at Calvary. I come to you now, Lord the best way I know how, and ask you to save me. I now receive you as my Savior. In Jesus Christ Name, Amen.
Posts: 19 | From: Tallahassee | Registered: Nov 2004
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HisGrace
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The scriptures say that we are not supposed to be too pre-occupied with matters of the flesh.
Romans 8:4,5
So that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
For those who are according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
It seems like self-gratification can be very frustrating, because God intended that there be physical contact with another human being of the opposite sex, and therefore it can become unfulfilling and addictive without that contact. Something is missing, and the person would keep searching for more.
How can we be sure it is not out of wandering thoughts of lust or just a pleasurable act? It is also something that is directed inwardly and therefore perhaps may be considered to be quite narcissistic??
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helpforhomeschoolers
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crusader I think your comment was both rude and inaccurate. I never implied that masturbation would send anyone to hell. Last time I checked sin sends people to hell and the only sin that cannot be forgiven is the one that is not washed in the blood of the Lamb.
THere are many things that we can do in this life that will cause us to miss out on the truely glorious blessings that God has for us in this life, but still they will not send us to hell.
I have never ever judged wheter a person is hell bound or not and I do not appreciate that you would imply I do, even in jest if that is what that was... in jest.
And, do not EVER quote me as saying something on this board that I did not say. I never said was a NO NO. Those were your words not mine.
I gave sound reason why it is not the best God has for us and if you disagree fine; but do not misquote me.
Thank you.
Linda
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002
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becauseHElives
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Mark 9:43-48
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Masturbation takes the assistance of the hand.
Your feet carry you to a place to masturbate.
The eyes generally cause the lust that causes masturbation in the first place.
Sin, all sin is a serious action or condition of thinking contrary to the will of Yahweh and not to be treated lightly.
Rom 6:12
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Neither yield ye your members (your hands,feet, eyes) [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.
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Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
Posts: 4578 | From: Southeast Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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Favor Minded
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The fact that the Bible doesn't specifically mention masturbation implies that we should approach this topic with sensitivity and caution. Most teenagers and single adults face an enormous struggle coming to terms with their sexual longings. Often the individuals who are most conscientious about their sexual feelings are the ones most likely to be tormented by unrealistic guilt. If we add to Scripture and weigh them down with even more unwarranted guilt, we become like the Pharisees and their legal experts. To protect holy principles, they added their own laws to Moses - like fences around fences - and in the process they heaped on others burdens that they themselves were not willing or able to bear - Luke 11:46
If we are honest, each of us will acknowledge the difficulty of keeping sexually pure in a permissive and sexually obsessed culture. We struggle to avoid either of two extremes. We must not surrender to the hedonistic spirit of the age, but we also want to avoid the spirit of asceticism and proud self-denial that has often marred the history of Christianity. Any belief that our sexual desires and feelings are evil in themselves is based in the Gnostic 1 denial of the goodness of the body and the natural world, not in the teachings of Scripture - 1 Timothy 3:1-3
On the other hand, we can't entirely discount the significance of habitual masturbation as a moral issue simply because it isn't mentioned in Scripture. One doesn't speak of "habitual" eating or "habitual" sleeping unless someone is eating or sleeping much more than they should. The fact that you realize you are caught up in a cycle of habitual behavior implies that you know that something is wrong.
All of life's pleasures have an appropriate context. When we eat entirely for pleasure, we become flabby and unhealthy. When we sleep much more than is needed for rest and bodily health, we become mentally and physically ill. Any misuse of legitimate pleasure has bad consequences.
The purpose of sexual pleasure is to nurture intimacy and unity between a husband and wife -Genesis 2:24 ; Mark 10:6-8 ; Ephesians 5:28-32
Sexual desire is related to our deepest longings, our profoundest potential for intimacy and joy. It is like a fire. In the right circumstances a fire provides warmth, light, and food. In the wrong place it has enormous capacity for destruction.
The Bible doesn't provide a detailed discussion of human sexual issues. It tends to refer to sexual matters indirectly and with considerable delicacy. For example, even the term sex isn't used in the Bible, and the male and female sexual organs are referred to only indirectly, as is the act of intercourse. Even such a serious issue as pedophilia isn't mentioned specifically. It's likely, therefore, that although it isn't mentioned specifically in Scripture, habitual masturbation would be included under the categories of "lasciviousness," "impurity," and "uncleanness" - Leviticus 15:16-17 ; Mark 7:20-22 ; 2 Corinthians 12:21 ; Galatians 5:19 ; Ephesians 5:3,5 ; Colossians 3:5
What are some of the illegitimate uses of sexual pleasure that we should be on guard against?
Sexual pleasure shouldn't serve merely as a "pressure valve" for the release of physical and emotional tension. There are more constructive, loving ways to release - and even to harness - our physical and emotional tension.
Sexual pleasure shouldn't be fed by sinful fantasy. Jesus made it clear that sexual sin isn't limited to physical act. Sin occurs equally in fantasy and imagination. There is a healthy imagination that leads to actions that honor one another, and a self-absorbed imagination that inclines us to use others for our own pleasure - Matthew 5:27-30; 15:19
Sexual fantasy can be a destructive expression of rage, revenge, or lust. Such unhealthy fantasies can scar and harden our hearts even if they aren't carried out in the real world.
Sexual pleasure should never be a way we demand that God satisfy us immediately, on our terms. We should never expect sexual pleasure to compensate for our loneliness, disappointment, powerlessness, or sense of rejection. If we use it for these reasons, it is illegitimate.
Followers of Christ have been given freedom and forgiveness to love and honor one another, but not to be enslaved again to the flesh - Romans 6:16
We have been given God's Spirit and wisdom so that we can understand that our bodies make good servants - and cruel masters.
Remember, while it may be difficult to resist, like anything else, God WILL deliver if your heart is in it. And, one of the biggest revelations is as follows -
It breeds an ever increasing spirit of Lust - The more you do it, the more you want to. Soon Satan has a foothold and will advance you to more Lust satisfying things like Pornography
It is a spirit of Homosexuality
Don't laugh - Think about it - If you are a male, are you not having sex only with a male?
It is a Spirit of Sexual Abuse -
Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. - Galatians 5:24
What passions are being spoken of here? Sinful passions (Romans 7:5) and vile passions - Romans 1:26 - are what have been crucified and are to be put to death. Passion, in and of itself, is not evil. Otherwise, the passion found between a married couple would also have to be put to death. But, on the contrary, Scripture cultivates this passion - see the Song of Solomon and Proverbs 5:19 - and never identifies self sexual gratification as an evil passion or lust.
What about "uncleanness" - Colossians 3:5
Doesn't the law identify masturbation, or at least the result of it, unclean? Yes it does.
If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his body in water, and be unclean until evening. And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, it shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening. - Leviticus 15:16-17; see also verse 32
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.
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
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. - 1 Corinthians 6:18
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Crusader
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quote:
Originally posted by helpforhomeschoolers:
Its a no-no
Awww man. Looks like I'm going to hell
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Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and unless you save me I am lost forever. I thank you for dying for me at Calvary. I come to you now, Lord the best way I know how, and ask you to save me. I now receive you as my Savior. In Jesus Christ Name, Amen.
Posts: 19 | From: Tallahassee | Registered: Nov 2004
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redkermit
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Thank you for that response. This is a question I have thought about also, and you have made some points I never considered, and I appreciate that.
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I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. (Ps. 84:10b)
1 John 2:6
Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Listen Online:
www.wmuz.com
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Posts: 604 | From: Michigan | Registered: Nov 2004
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helpforhomeschoolers
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posted
I believe that God created sex, but not to be experienced alone. God took out of Adam all that was needed to form Eve and then he blessed them and they came together again as ONE flesh.
This is God's design. Sex is an intimacy to be shared between a man and wife. It is the intended source of the blood in the blood covenant that God designed marriage to be. It is the surrender of one's body to the other. It is about giving of one's self with complete abandon to one's own desires and in this one's own desires are fulfilled. This brings glory to God.
Sex in any other fashion including sex with ones self does not glorify God, is not what God intended, and is not what it should be. And therefore is sin.
Masturbation takes that which is intended by God to be an intimacy experienced and shared by two people and makes it a singular event. This is selfishness;this is the perversion of sex into something that is not what God intended.
Sex as God intended is about giving to the other and when both partners do this the whole of the two who become one is greater and more glorious than the sum of the parts.
This doesnt even address, where one's mind might go during masturbation. If it wandered to someone other than spouse this would be the same as the sin of adultry, and if you were unmarried and it wandered to a woman period this would be fornitcation. But I think the most serious thing that makes masturbation wrong is what I have stated above, it takes something that God made glorious and holy and wonderful and designed to be a giving experience shared with another and turns it into a taking and selfish experience designed for one's own pleasure.
Nothing of God is about self... it is about giving and through giving being blessed.
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002
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Crusader
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posted
Ok were gone over sex, and if has been proven by everyone here that having it before your married is a sin. But what about masterbation? Is that also a sin?
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Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and unless you save me I am lost forever. I thank you for dying for me at Calvary. I come to you now, Lord the best way I know how, and ask you to save me. I now receive you as my Savior. In Jesus Christ Name, Amen.
Posts: 19 | From: Tallahassee | Registered: Nov 2004
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