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The Truth about Masturbation
Written by Jason Evertt   
Saturday, 01 August 2009

Masturbation doesn't get rid of temptations any more than a prostitute does. Both may temporarily relieve sexual desires, but our goal as Christians is not simply to get rid of temptations. Our goal is to glorify God with our bodies. The idea that masturbation can be used to decrease sexual desires is like saying that lighter fluid can be used to extinguish a fire. If anything, masturbation incites lustful thoughts and teaches a person that he or she deserves--and needs--sexual gratification whenever the desire arises.

To understand why masturbation is wrong, we need to step back from the world's constant clamoring for sexual "needs" and go back to God's plan for sex. Sexuality is meant to be a gift between a husband and wife for the purpose of babies and bonding. When it is taken out of that context the gift is degraded--and in the case of masturbation, altogether ceases being a gift. The purpose of sexuality is abandoned, because the center of the sexual act becomes "me" instead of "we" and the person is trained to look to himself for sexual fulfillment. The gift of one's sexuality is misused for the sake of lifeless pleasure. Only selfless giving will fulfill you.

When people misuse their sexuality in this way, they begin to use pleasure to change their mood, release tension, or forget their loneliness. Masturbation becomes an escape. It may pacify them, but it will never satisfy them, because they'll always want more. They use the fantasies of their mind and the pleasures of their body to flee from reality and the call to love. Their goal in sexual activity has been reduced to merely receiving pleasure instead of showing love. If men and women have trained themselves to use their sexuality in this way, why would this suddenly change once they're married? The husband or wife will simply be a substitute for the fantasies, to be used in place of self. They may even imagine the fantasies while with their spouse. The problem is that the lust will be transferred to the other, not healed within.

Worse yet, merely getting married will not cure their problem with masturbation. Because masturbation has trained disordered impulses in them, the true pleasures of marriage--though far superior--may not appease their warped attachments. Where will they turn to find those pleasures within marriage? Often, they'll continue to struggle with masturbation, to the sorrow and distress of their spouse, and to the detriment of their marriage. A person who does not preserve his own purity when alone will have a difficult time remaining pure with another. If he lacks self-control when alone, he will be unable to properly give himself to his spouse when the time comes. You can not give what you do not control. No self-control equals no gift of self. To the extent that there is no gift of self, there is no love. If you want to be able to genuinely love your spouse, you must build self-mastery.

Comments
  • the dude  - It just seems easier
    It just seems like it would be easier if you are married, you want some you can get some? maybe not all the time but its
    something to look forward to kinda thing,
    and then you don;t get this huge build up over time, because you get it more
    than a guy whos single, and ends up getting frustrated he;s not married yet so looks at porn, even tho its not
    satisfying either its like but the sumo's gotta eat sometime, im afraid if i kill one addiction i'm just gonna pick up a
    worse habbit?
    world of warcraft anyone? i hope i don't start experimenting with drugs because i stopped looking at
    girls, i always figured that everyone has at least two addictions that you will fight with your whole life, once you
    defeat one, you pick up another one, and then maybe eventually go back to the old one? So maybe one good addiction one
    bad addiction

    drugs, porn, alcohol, video games, sports, god, work, sex, music, shopping, gambling, lying
  • Catholic Mike  - Fasting
    Fasting is intended to strengthen the spirit by weakening the body and humbling the one that's fasting. Fasting should
    be part of your spiritual workout routine, but you're not going to starve yourself free of porn.

    You should get an
    acountability partner and get into a routine that trains mind, body and spirit.
  • Catholic Mike  - Dude ... it's not easier
    Dude, make yourself into the man your future wife wants you to be. If you don't, then it won't be any easier (check out
    I Cor 7:28).

    There's no reason to think that you need to swap one problem for another. Take your list ... drugs,
    porn, alcohol, video games, sports, god, work, sex, music, shopping, gambling, lying ... and apply balance to the things
    that aren't inherently sinful for a single guy; alcohol, video games, sports, God, work, music, shopping, gambling.


    You should go to work, and work your butt off. It establishes a good work ethic and sets a foundation for financial
    stability for your future family. In the evenings, get in a good workout to stay fit and to discipline the body. Listen
    to music throughout the day.

    Go shopping, get the stuff you need, buy stuff for the local food pantry or shelter. Go
    to Mass, pray, give some of your time, talent and treasure. Hang out with friends, play sports and video games, have a
    few beers, make reasonable bets on fun stuff. (We had a priest that had to shave his head after his team lost a big
    game).

    There's a balance in life that we each must find, which doesn't mean to be mediocre ... whatever your hand
    finds to do, do it with all your might (Ecc 9:10).
  • cgburke  - purity - in response to doctordoyle
    I find it interesting that you said you took off your scapular. Sometimes, I would intentionally take off my purity
    ring, as though if I could keep the purity that I should have been saving for my future husband separate from what I did
    in my bed, I could "stay pure." or something. It's like taking a picture of Mary or Jesus or one's crucifix off
    the wall during times when one gives into temptation will make God or Mary our mother from not seeing! I still was
    impure in my heart. Anyway, I just thought it was interesting that other people rationalized these things the same way I
    did (and still struggle from doing). One feels so alone and isolated in their struggle. It took me 8 years to confide in
    anyone - beside my confessor - and even then, that person is still the only one. Masterbation (and porn) seems so
    solitary - which is what makes it so hard to resist for me - that it is hard to seek outside help.
  • cgburke  - In response to recent posts...
    The only addiction we should have is for God. And yes, one addiction "conquered" can easily be redirected into
    another new addiction, though not necessarily a more dangerous one. THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE SHOULD GIVE UP AND ASSUME WE'RE
    GONNA HAVE SOME KINDA SINFUL ADDICTION ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. And yes, almost any addiction becomes sinful. Virtue of
    temperence, anyone? This line of thinking, though very appealing to us who struggle with this, is what keeps us in our
    deadly cycle of addiction. i know, I rationalized this sickly distortion of God's love in so many ways! My favorite was
    the fact that i masterbated before I even knew what sex was! It felt good; that was all I knew. It took years before I
    even knew it was sinful! And even then, it took years of my rationalizations to finally accept that it was a mortal sin,
    and I had lived as a Catholic girl in a Catholic high school without God's grace for 3 years! I get frustrated that in
    the 2 years since my acceptance of the true state of my sinfulness, I haven't overcome it hardly at all. In body, yes,
    but not in mind. But then I realize, the devil had me in his grasp for 6 full years before I finally accepted it as
    mortally sinful. 2 years seems like forever, but perseverance is so important. Please, anyone who reads this, pray
    through saints Catherine of Siena and Maria Goretti (my personal guiding saint) for me. I need it.
  • the Dude  - Christian
    Those things you listed, seem great and all but it just not me,
    first of all , i'm not catholic,
    secondly
    most
    Christians do not consider masterbation sinful.

    my future wife probably masturbates? half the time i don't even care if
    i have a future wife,
    and i intentionally avoid catholic girls, there is this whole war going on in me catholics vs
    christians
    we are very very very different, and both equally stuck in our ways, it might as well be islam vs
    christians, we are soo different. but we can't going around telling our grandparents to learn new tricks, everyone
    likes tradition and routines,
    so my relationship with God is just me, the king james bible, and my prayer.

    I feel that
    masterbation is just as sinful as drinking a beer, or anything else we do in our life,
    in access its wrong, porn
    however is always wrong.
    any arguments?
    moderation is key your right,
    but honestly that life you just described above
    is not !!! me,


    So i know about catholics because i was forced to attend church, for 18 years, and i hated every moment
    of it,
    i don't agree with the catholic church on alot of things, and i finally feel closer to God now that i have
    become a Christian,

    and im not saying that we intetnionally swap one problem for another, im just saying look at your
    own lives, when you defeat a sin, or an addiction or bad habit, or stop doing something, a new "something" slips
    in to replace it, usally without our knowing.

    i stop masturbating, and without knowing it im suddenly taking more
    interest in dating girls, an...
  • the Dude
    but yeah the dude lives alone, has no friends, and has no job, so yeah the dude, doesnt go to church because he in not
    catholic, the dude is lost, and has no meaning, the dude wants a job because infact the dude is really really smart, but
    has never been to college because he dumped his girlfriend, moved away from his family and went to a new country where
    he sits in the ghetto not talking to anyone because they dont speak english, and he doesnt have a job, so he looks a
    porn, and then crys in sorrow of how life sucks
  • Catholic Mike  - the Dude - Who Decides?
    Dude ... I know exactly how you feel. I was in the same place you are 20 years ago.

    You said that most Christians
    don't consider masturbation to be a sin. The one question I have, then, is who decides who is right?

    If they're all
    led by the same Holy Spirit, how can they come to different conclusions?

    AND, on judgement day, will it be they or
    God that decides?
  • Anonymous
    I wish someone would knock some sense into my fiancé...
  • Matt Fradd
    Hey Anonymous, want to share more? What do you mean knock some sense into him? Is he justifying masturbation?
  • bella  - An itch that must be scratched?
    Hi

    Is it still wrong to masturbate if you don't fantisize and it's just like an itch that you need toscratch???
  • Matt Fradd
    Hi Bella, that's a fair question,

    Before answering your question let's define a few things:

    What is an itch and why
    do we scratch?

    Itching is a built-in defense mechanism that alerts your body to the potential of being harmed. When we
    feel at itch our natural desire is to scratch that area of skin, it can bring relief because it can dislodge the
    irritant.

    So the next logical question to ask is "Is the sexual urge an irritant that needs to be dealt with?"
    If it is, then we have to conclude that all sexual activity is a response something negative and that when a couple
    marry it is primarily to use each other to "scratch their itch"....

    For the Christian however, the body is
    GREAT. Sex is GREAT -It was God's very first commandment in the Bible to humanity (Gen 1:28). Thus the sexual urge far
    from being an irritant to be dislodged is a God given desire which should propel us to make a gift of
    ourselves.

    Masturbation is always and everywhere disordered. As Jason Evert has pointed out elsewhere, asking "can
    I masturbate so long as I'm not lusting" is like asking "can I steal money as long as I'm thinking about feeding
    the poor".

    As a man who once struggled with masturbation I can sincerely say that I'm much happier and much more
    free now that I know how to control my body for the sake of love!

    hope that helps
  • bella  - Itchy & Scratchy!
    Hi Matt

    Thanks for answering honestly...........and I understand exactly what you're saying....but it sometimes feels
    sooooooooooo hard when you've been single for sooooooooo long!
    Sometimes, I think is it a matter of self control and
    asking God to help you stop when that urge comes??? Or do I need deliverance or something?
  • Matt Fradd
    Bella, when I was hooked on masturbation, all that ultimately mattered was my orgasm. At times, almost my wife would
    become the means to that end. In other words, my orgasm became more important to me than my wife. I do not masturbate
    anymore, but it's taken time. I began taking my prayer life seriously, I'd actually go to confession when I messed up
    instead of justifying it. I started fasting.

    Basically I decided this wasn't the type of man I wanted to be anymore.
    It's a daily struggle to be sure, there's no prayer out there that you can pray once and expect to be cured.

    The
    freedom I have now is incredible! My wife is what matters to me. We practice NFP (we don't use contraception) which
    means there are times in the month we need to abstain from sex. How loved my wife feels knowing that I have self mastery
    and she doesn't have to worry about me masturbating.

    I've heard of one wife who said about her husband "It doesn't
    feel like he's making love to me, it feels like he's just masturbating with my body"....strong language, but a
    reality for the person that refuses to become permanently resolved to never abuse his or her sexuality.

    hope that
    helps, if not you can email us at info@theporneffect.com and one of us will speak more indepth with you.

    thanks.
  • bella  - Thanks
    Thanks Matt

    I really hear what you're saying.............I will try to fast and pray more and see if my spiritual
    life becomes greater than my physical. Have heard it said.......that what you feed the most grows the most!
    It's
    probably arisen from sexual abuse from the past, but I will endeavour to do what you suggested.
    If not, will email you
    directly.

    Thanks again..........really appreciate being able to share this with someone in an anonymous way as have
    been too full of shame to tell anyone or ask for help!
  • tyler
    Hey Bella, have you seen the movies under video casts? there's an amazing one on sumo wrestling that talks about what
    you said....what you feed the most grows the most...

    http://www.theporneffect.com/multimedia/v
    ideocasts/39-temptation

    helped me!
  • Bella
    Thanks Tyler, will give it a try...................
  • Bella  - Sumo
    Thanks Tyler and Matt. Just watched that little video clip and isn't it amazing that I knew that knowledge deep down
    somewhere?! What you feed is what grows!
    Good to see what you look like Matt too!
    Bless you guys................and
    thanks again.
    Temptation comes when you're feeling lonely and unwell etc......and just me sharing like this has helped
    me conquer it.
    By now, I already would have fallen.
    Thanks again.
    Bella
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