Agiat 💚

Alright I’ll bite. TL; DR: Masturbation isn’t sinful as long as there’s no porn or fantasizing So as a single Christian, I’ve wrestled with this. And I’ve come to an answer that it isn’t sinful. First off sex outside of marriage is sinful. Hebrews 13:4 says “Marriage is honorable and the marriage bed is undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” That doesn’t just mean sexual intercourse but any behavior with another human being that leads to sexual gratification. Second, beyond behavior, lust is a sin. Matthew 5:27-8 says “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Now what is lust? Lust is a desire to have sexual release from another person you are thinking about, whether that person is a real person like your girlfriend or a person on a screen in porn or an imaginary person in erotica. Sexual attraction for a person isn’t inherently dirty. Sexual attraction for a person is a part of what it means to be a mature human. It was meant by God to be channeled into a marriage relationship between a man and a woman. But when sin came into the world it distorted everything God made including sexual desire. Sexual desire between a husband and wife is sacred and ordered. Lust for a person you are not married to is sinful and disordered. So sexual behavior outside of marriage and lust towards a person whether real or imaginary is a sin. But what about masturbation? Well to answer that we have to define what is masturbation? Masturbation is touching one’s body in erogenous parts of your body to achieve sexual release/orgasm. So is it sinful? Well let’s look back at what the Bible says is sinful: sexual behavior with a person is sinful. So masturbating with a girlfriend, or a friend for that matter is sinful. Lust is sinful. So masturbation that is accompanied by thinking sexual desire for a person is a sin. So masturbation using porn or erotica is definitely sinful. But what about masturbation that doesn’t involve porn? I don’t believe it’s sinful. The reason I don’t think it’s sinful is simple. Ejaculation isn’t sinful and the need for the human body to ejaculate isn’t sinful. It’s a natural process of our bodies as dudes designed to get semen out of our bodies. The only ways it gets out of a single man’s body is either a wet dream or masturbation. I don’t know anyone who says a wet dream is sinful. Neither is masturbation. If someone is using porn or lusting after another person then yes it’s sinful. If you aren’t using porn, and if you are not doing it with another person, and if your body is responding to the physical sensations, then it isn’t sinful. You’re free to make the wisest decision for your situation. Now the question arises: is Masturbation wise? I’d say that if it becomes addictive, then you should stop. Over time, if it’s done too much, it can fry your brain and make it more difficult to be intimate with your spouse when the time comes. But done in moderation, I don’t see it as unwise. And it definitely isn’t by itself sinful.