Masturbation – Right or Wrong?

Women as well as men can be in bondage to masturbation. The Word of God does not offer any direct guidance on the subject of masturbation. Perhaps the subject is omitted because it is a moral issue that needs to be left up to the individual to determine right from wrong.

From a biological viewpoint, masturbation may be normal a function of sexuality. From a spiritual viewpoint, the real area of concern should be what goes on in a person’s mind. Are inappropriate sexual images running rampant in your mind? In order to successfully act out, it is necessary to get vivid and exciting thoughts or images into your mind? (This can be done by pure imagination or by pictures or movies or stories or real persons.) These images always involve people as sexual objects which is against God’s direction for us to honor and respect one another.

If during the act, you are having adulterous thoughts about your neighbor’s wife (or husband), Matthew 5:28 comes to mind “whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

For many who masturbate, the action becomes an idol and an addiction (they simply cannot stop the behavior even though they desperately want to). They go through the motions because they are seeking the “high” and to escape reality. At that point it is a sin because both idolatry and addiction compete for 1st place when God should and must be first and foremost in your life.

Many feel a heavy sense of shame and guilt after masturbating. It could be the Holy Spirit convicting you of your actions. You may be experiencing “inappropriate guilt.” Not all guilt comes from God. Some of it comes from within ourselves and some of it comes from Satan. Sometimes Satan uses guilt and shame to drive us away from God. Serious introspection may be called for.

We all still have our old sinful nature, which strikes in times of weakness. Because no one has reached the state of perfection, God’s grace is continuous process that is there to cover all the sins we commit.

Help is available! You do not have to overcome alone.

Because of the highly private nature of masturbation one may want to consider taking advantage of a Christian online recovery community where everyone has control over their anonymity. Join Christians in Recovery

Seek out a professional Christian counselor. You can get a referral for a Christian counselor from:

American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC)
9504-A Lee Highway
Fairfax, VA 22031-2303
703-385-6967
http://www.aapc.org
A list of over 3,200 individual members of AAPC is available from the
Association Office. The Association office will be happy to refer you to
a certified pastoral counselor near you.

National Association of Nouthetic Counselors (NANC)
3600 W. 96th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46268-2905
Phone: (317) 337-9100
Fax: (317) 337-9199
E-Mail: info@nanc.org
http://nanc.org

International Association of Biblical Counselors (IABC)
11500 Sheridan Boulevard
Denver, CO 80020
Telephone: 303-469-IABC
Fax: 303-469-1787
http://iabc.net

National Christian Counselors Association (NCCA)
3650 17th Street
Sarasota, FL 34235
(941) 951-6177

American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC)
2421 W. Pratt #1398
Chicago, IL 60645
800-526-8673

Association of Christian Therapists (ACT)
14440 Cherry Lane Court #215
Laurel, MD 10707
301-470-ACTS

Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS)
PO Box 310400
New Braunfels, TX 78131-0400

This is not an endorsement or recommendation of any organization
or group. Listings are provided as a courtesy, not as an obligation.
It is up to the reader to determine whether these organizations
suits his or her purposes, interests and beliefs.

Read everything you can get your hands on regarding
recovery. http://RecoveryBooks.com