Call It Sin
Most people won't say it. They won't talk about it. They shy away.
Most Christians refuse to talk about certain sins. Especially in the church, but also in the home. Drinking, cussing, smoking are all addressed. Immodesty and adultery are sometimes talked about...
But most sexual sins are hardly ever mentioned. Let alone explained. Homosexuality, pornography or masturbation are barely ever acknowledged subjects in the conservative Christian home. (Let alone the topic of sex itself. Most conservative young people I've talked to grew up in a home where “sex” was kind of a bad word. Mysterious. Maybe even funny. I know of quite a few Christian adults who had to figure out sex themselves, once they were married or one the verge of marriage. Because....no-one ever told them.)
I'd like to address masturbation. Simply because NO-ONE ever will.
The definition is as follows:
Maturbation: erotic stimulation especially of one's own genital 2) organs commonly resulting in orgasm and achieved by manual or other bodily contact exclusive of sexual intercourse, by instrumental manipulation, occasionally by sexual fantasies, or by various combinations of these agencies
Most Christians that dare approach the topic are unwilling to call masturbation a sin. Probably because it's not really a black and white issue. It isn't addressed specifically in the Bible.
But the Bible does address vain imaginations. It does talk about lust. It does say that our body is meant to glorify God. Sex can and does glorify God. It is holy and good when between a married man and woman.
Anything outside of that God seems to see as defiled. Is masturbation sin? There is such a thing as carnal appetite. An unlawful desire for carnal pleasure. Depraved affections. Concupiscence. Lust. In some, this manifests itself in a desire for the same gender. It leads some to defilement with their eyes (pornography). And for some, a defiling with their bodies, (masturbation).
“But! It is impossible to fornicate with your own body! It is not sexual intercourse!” A friend told me that once. Masturbation is not fornication. True. But neither is pornography, and rarely does the Christian hesitate to call porn wrong.
Masturbation is often degrading to oneself. Even if it is only in the mind. It opens doors to impurity. Evil imaginations. Things you might not do in “real-life” you commit in your imaginations to conjure the necessary emotions to spur on your habit.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Anything outside of that God seems to see as defiled. Is masturbation sin? There is such a thing as carnal appetite. An unlawful desire for carnal pleasure. Depraved affections. Concupiscence. Lust. In some, this manifests itself in a desire for the same gender. It leads some to defilement with their eyes (pornography). And for some, a defiling with their bodies, (masturbation).
“But! It is impossible to fornicate with your own body! It is not sexual intercourse!” A friend told me that once. Masturbation is not fornication. True. But neither is pornography, and rarely does the Christian hesitate to call porn wrong.
Masturbation is often degrading to oneself. Even if it is only in the mind. It opens doors to impurity. Evil imaginations. Things you might not do in “real-life” you commit in your imaginations to conjure the necessary emotions to spur on your habit.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
You are precious. Made in God's image. Everything about you is valuable. And as a child of God you are meant to be holy. Your thoughts are meant to be held captive for Him. We must renounce the hidden things. The dishonest parts of ourselves. If we call ourselves pure saints, but commit sin in our minds, we are lying. Jesus is meant to be made manifest in our body...in our minds, in our actions. No sinful habit can be conquered until acknowledged as sin and repented of. THEN, God can begin a new work in you. THEN, begins the healing. THEN, He begins to faithfully keep you.
I'd like to say that children ought to be told about it. Obviously there is an age appropriate answer for every age. But many people who engage in sin were introduced to it at a young age and just weren't equipped with how to deal with it, or aware of the consequences. Many children are embarrassed to ask. Parents have a responsibility to train up their children in the way they should go... which includes what paths they should NOT go. No Christian parent would like to think that their child struggles with homosexuality. But they may. I've talked to broken-hearted Christians who have borne their shameful secret sin. No Christian parent finds it easy to address uncomfortable topics. No Christian parent wants to think their son may struggle with masturbation. Or that their daughter is plagued by immorality. But better to address the topic and equip your children, no matter how uncomfortable, than to abandon them to their own discernment and resources. They will figure it out, let me assure you. I've talked to them. But only after years of pain and scarring.
There. I said what most people won't.
I'd like to say that children ought to be told about it. Obviously there is an age appropriate answer for every age. But many people who engage in sin were introduced to it at a young age and just weren't equipped with how to deal with it, or aware of the consequences. Many children are embarrassed to ask. Parents have a responsibility to train up their children in the way they should go... which includes what paths they should NOT go. No Christian parent would like to think that their child struggles with homosexuality. But they may. I've talked to broken-hearted Christians who have borne their shameful secret sin. No Christian parent finds it easy to address uncomfortable topics. No Christian parent wants to think their son may struggle with masturbation. Or that their daughter is plagued by immorality. But better to address the topic and equip your children, no matter how uncomfortable, than to abandon them to their own discernment and resources. They will figure it out, let me assure you. I've talked to them. But only after years of pain and scarring.
There. I said what most people won't.
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