Do you think masturbation is a sin?

Lust is a real problem for every boy and man.

I think the dirty feeling comes from a connection to the thoughts often had while masturbating. Even if you are able to eventually do it with a clear mind you already connect the act to the shame felt previously making it more of a conditioned response. If an individual is able to masturbate without lust entering the equation, then i don't believe it to be a sin. However, if you are married i think it becomes a new topic for discussion.

I think women have just as much of a problem, just isn't spoken about as openly ( wouldn't be very lady like... or something).

Gah, sorry. Of course. That's a pet peeve of mine - that many Christians believe only males lust. Not sure why I wrote the former, since it doesn't tell the whole story. Maybe I should've said 'visually lusting' instead.

OKAY!! seriously, too many discussions have been had about this topic and its difficult to come to any end because everyone has their own opinions and no one wants to be proved wrong... the question is "What would Jesus do??"
and no, no one can justify in saying that we are humans and that He is God and all that because He was born as a human wasn't He?? He faced temptations of the flesh too, didn't He?? But did He give in??
Sadly we have been deceived to believe that there is just a thin line between right and wrong... when the fact is that as Children of God we are separated from this world farther than the east is from the west.... we are called to be different, to stand out... and if we do things that everyone else does then how can we expect to be witnesses for Christ??

True, gad but some people really struggle with this stuff. Your zealous 'what would Jesus do' is well-intentioned but not helping matters.

of course its a struggle but it can never be won if we first dont accept it as a sin... and trust me I know what a struggle it is...

Oh, I accept it as sin but I think we should try walking alongside people who struggle with lust (all of us).

GAH! Scripture does talk about this topic:

That is exactly what Scripture says about it, and all scripture says about it. It should be good enough for everyone.

Lust may overlap but it is another matter. Lust is wrong, stimulation and ejaculation, even of ones self, is not.

There isn't even any kind of thin line here. Lust is wrong no matter if you're masturbating while lusting for something or reading scripture while lusting for something.

The physical action itself isn't wrong in any reasonable way.

This is the kind of question we need to ask. I'm not at all certain the answer is yes for everyone. I think we might get several definitions if we pursued this.

This is an even bigger question. Is this true? What is sex? Can we even all agree on that? I know for a fact that different denominations have different definitions.

well I didnt want to start an argument here so all I have to say is that its a choice each individual has to make for himself... with or without lust, i think its a sin... a compromise of purity, is what i think.... if there is anyone who can say that there is no guilt after this act then please share it, but I have experienced it myself... soo...

I have a correspondent in Australia, who shared with me a TV interview that would never have passed the censors in America. This guy (fairly famous in the UK) was living in Africa, and was interviewed about his exploits. For more than 20 minutes, he reported on a pet monkey who was said to masturbate almost every second sentence out of the man's mouth.

Masurbation among babies is widely quoted in the technical counseling literature. In fact, a lot of the reason humans do not talk about sex in public is alleged to be that sexual abilities switch off biologically from about age 2 through age 8, and that the rediscovery of the abilities at that age causes people to be self-conscious. [Not saying I believe this, just adding to the post.]

Good point. Strictly speaking the word has nothing to do with what you're thinking about. I'm working with the dictionary definition.

If someone means something different when they say 'masturbation' then they may be talking about something that is sinful. Defining terms is always important.

yes the book of leviticus has alot to say about sexuality but not even once is the word 'masturbation' mentioned nor anything indicating it...... so its not right to call it a sin as such, but its utterly wrong to say it isnt a sin considering that God said nothing about it and it is only Him who can do so...it is a dangerous thing to say nothing is wrong with it... dont you think??

Interestingly enough the book of leviticus was not written in English... As such that word is not in it. The concept is though, in the verses I referenced.


It is an absolute absurdity to thing anything or everything is a sin unless God specifically says it isn't. It is quite safe to say there is nothing wrong with it. If there was God would let us know. Don't you think God declares his full mind on any subject vital to our spiritual life? If we need to know, he lets us know.

Masturbatiion is a word that is not literally mentioned in the bible. So based on that some say yes it's a sin and some say it's not.
The best way to find out if it is a sin or not and whether it pleases or displeases God, one should pray before masturbation

eg: Father God in heaven, I am going to masturbate.
Please convict my heart if this is wrong in your eyes.

And you will get your answer

well.... thats a prayer to be considered... I dont think anyone prays before masturbation... has anyone?? asking if its pleasing before God or not... and yea, maybe we should.... its up to us to decide if it pleases God or not..

It is an absolute absurdity to thing anything or everything is a sin unless God specifically says it isn't. It is quite safe to say there is nothing wrong with it. If there was God would let us know. Don't you think God declares his full mind on any subject vital to our spiritual life? If we need to know, he lets us know.[/QUOTE]

Quite safe?? how is it safe to classify something as 'not a sin' when God has kept mum on the subject... Remember only God knows right from wrong... none of us do...

I think this also has alot to do with churches and other Christians who claim it is a sin. If you've been brought up with others claiming it is a sin, it's easy to see why one would feel shame if they did it. But, we can't just go by what other's claim something is, but we have to look at what the word says or doesn't say about a topic and discern from that if something is a sin or not.

There can't be more than one definition of sex, sex is simply intercourse between two people. I'm not sure what different denominations have to do with that.