Last updated on August 29, 2020
Question:
Thank you for posting the information you have typed, and studied for years about masturbation. I used to think it was sinful due to the opinion of men and not the Bible. I knew the Bible never exposed light on the topic, but with a massive amount of views about it, it was hard to discern what God said was right and what He said was wrong. I don’t think I have a problem of “overdoing it” but I do have one question: Would it be sinful to masturbate in order to rid yourself of the temptation to look at pornography or sexual touching between partners? This would be to cause me not to sin by these two sinful acts. I know porn is a sin, and touching is a sin thanks to the information I have read backed up with a biblical foundation. Most times I feel the urge the most to look at porn or touch my girlfriend whenever I haven’t had any semen ejaculation. Therefore, to masturbate to not sin would be a sin or a sin? If that makes sense?
Thank you. God bless you!
Answer:
As I pointed out numerous times, masturbation by itself is neither sinful nor not sinful. It is the things guys use to get themselves sexually aroused so they can masturbate that defines it as sinful or not. See I’m still confused about masturbation. Is it right or wrong? for more details.
There are people, usually girls, who decide that eating is bad, so they try not to eat. But the body needs fuel, so eventually the hunger grows so strong that the person doesn’t just eat, but gorges on food. That then makes them feel bad because gave in, and because they ate so much they see that as proof that they shouldn’t eat. It then becomes an endless cycle of self-abuse.
You have two seminal vesicles which constantly produce semen. They can only hold so much and old semen doesn’t stay good, so your body clears out the older batches through ejaculation — either by wet dreams, masturbation, or sex. The longer you go without ejaculating, the more the signals come saying you need to ejaculate, which guys perceive as sexual desire. It begins intruding on a guy’s thoughts and his behavior. Once an ejaculation takes place, the sexual desire plummets so rapidly that it leaves a guy wondering what he was thinking just a moment ago.
So, it is very common and reasonable to use periodic masturbation to control the level of sexual desire in your body. “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:14-15). What you are doing is reducing the physical desire so that Satan has less to use against you for the temptation to sin.
Response:
I’ve studied a lot, but I’ve always had trouble with this issue. I’d like to thank you for your time to email me. God bless you!