Is Masturbation a Sin in the Bible?
I've never met a man who feels like a hero after pleasuring themselves.
You're probably reading this post because you're curious if you can keep doing what you're doing and have a clear conscience. It is a good question to ask. The fact that you are asking it is honorable.
Before we dive into the question, "is masturbation a sin in the bible?" you need to reflect on how you feel after you masturbate.
Most men will agree that immediately finishing they feel an overwhelming sense of:
Regret
Shame
Disappointment
Sadness
One can try and counteract these feelings of sadness. But the truth is, written on your heart is truth. Deep in your soul you know the difference between right and wrong.
If you don't feel this way now, think back to your younger days. You may have destroyed your innocence by now to the extent you are fully numb. Don't worry, you can change.
Now to the question at hand.
Is it a sin?
Yes.
Why? Let's take a look at the 6th commandment. You shall not commit adultery. The world today looks at adultery as voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse.
How does Jesus look at it? Jesus says,
"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
If you are masturbating, there's a good chance you are not staring at a blank wall and getting off. You probably have porn on your screen or in some cases you are fantasizing in your mind about another person.
Jesus makes it very clear, this is a sin against the 6th commandment.
You may ask, "But does it clearly state in the bible masturbation is a sin"? No, it does not call this out explicitly. That being said, Jesus also goes on to say in Matthew 5:30,
"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 depart into hell."
Here are some more powerful quotes from the bible concerning sexual immorality:
1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
1 Thessalonians 4:3
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.
Church Teaching
The Catholic church clearly states in the catechism on the topic of masturbation:
(2352) "By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. "Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action." "The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose." For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of "the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved."
To form an equitable judgment about the subjects' moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety, or other psychological or social factors that lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability."
When we think of the word "disordered". You must understand the natural order of things as God designed them.
A man and woman are meant to come together as one and pro-create. God makes this clear in Genesis when he tells Adam and Eve, "Male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”
God has designed our bodies with purpose. Look at a man, look at a woman. It's easy to see - our parts fit together.
When a man indulges in masturbation and pleasures himself it disrupts the natural order of things. It is self-abuse. It is disordered.
Forgiveness and beginning again
We have come to the conclusion that masturbation is a sin. Now what? If you are still reading, there's a good chance you want to change. Good news. You can.
Step one is to get to confession. In the confessional our sins are forgiven. As Fulton Sheen has said, " If our sins be as scarlet, they shall be washed white as snow, and if they be as red as crimson, they shall be made white as wool."
It can be embarrassing to confess this sin to a priest for the first time. They have heard every sin in the book. I would not worry at all. That shame and guilt are overpowered by the weight lifted off your shoulders when you walk out of that confessional.
This particular sin is one that many struggle with. Don't feel special or that the priest will think you are some weirdo. This is not the case at all.
The fact you are taking this step is honorable. This is manly. Jesus wants to completely heal you. I promise you will not regret it.
Why would you risk your soul not wanting to confess because of pride or embarrassment?
Ending the habit
As men, deep in our hearts is the yearning for more. We want to be the hero. The leader. The provider. The protector. Our culture today wants to dumb us down, make us weak, and shame our natural male roles.
Porn and masturbation are standing in the way of you becoming the man you've always dreamed of.
Thanks be to God there is a lot of great work happening in this area. Both in the church and out of the church men of all ages are coming to the realization that a "healthy porn and masturbation habit" is not healthy at all. It's ruining the lives of a generation.
It's time to carry your cross and end the habit and become the man God has designed you to be.
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What would 30 days free from porn and masturbation look like for you?
I hope this blog post helps you in your journey. For more content like this follow me on Twitter.
