The place in the Bible where masterbating was a sin was a specific person and time. He spilled his seed so not to be able to preform with a certain woman. It was HIS selfish act. It is not your selfish act.
I hope this helps clear some of this up.

First I see nothing unhealthy with masturbation as a single person who is not married. For me it releases stress in a far more constructive way. Masturbation is not my number one preferred activity though. If I was in a longterm relationship with somebody masturbation would be pretty much a nay nay because I have that special person in my life and she fulfills that need among other important needs, such as nonsexual intimacy and companionship along with somebody to communicate with and nurture.
But sex as a sin: That is another issue and the answer one gets epends on who one talks to. But these are views of humans. The Bible does not speak out on masturbation as a sin as it does sex with others as sin if one is not married to the person or in regards to homosexual sexuality. However, the pope loves to talk about masturbation as a mortal sin(sin without any forgiveness for such comitted sins banning those from heaven) But what about the priests who preach that message , as they did in the sixties only to see so many of these Catholic preachers from the pulpit being willfull participants of sex with children? This is hypocrisy when the pope chooses to ignore the importance of the latter along spiritual lines of being possibly a mortal sin as well. But along lines of Conservative Christianity, Protestant, Baptist, Pentecostal, etcetra I have never heard masturbation described as a sin. In the end ,however Jesus does state that ALL sins will be forgiven us accept blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Mastirbation as a sin is a debatable issue. My only reservation is that to masturbate means usually that there is a need to lust after somebody of the opposite gender. This lusting is described by Jesus as an act of adultry with the woman in your heart. And of course, adultry is a sin. But masturbation without lusting after somebody is not considerred a sin y some in authority of Conservative Christian congregations. Having said all this it is up to you to find your own answer. It is not right that you be encouraged to sin against your conciounce by anybody else...not even me. And though I have pulled away from practicing Conservative Christianity, I don't want to make you sin against your conciounce.

As a Christian, I am still debating this myself. I will say that masturbation can often lead our minds to envision sinful and beastly things; we are playing with fire when we strike our own chords and should use caution. If you can keep your thoughts from imagining (as an example) your sister-in-law, your friend's wife, etc etc (and I realise that there are fare worse fantasies that come alive when we are "lit up" sometimes), then perhaps it's not a sin?

As a person that has participated in masturbation I can understand the right or wrong debate. Personally I think and I know that it is wrong but I don't say that to judge others or even you. Just because God doesn't speak specifically in his word about masturbation does not mean it is a sin. We all know sex outside of marriage is a sin and masturbation is pretty much self sex. You mimic sexual sensation and action, so from my understanding if it quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it's a duck. But it is human nature to seek loopholes and exemption clauses so ppl say it is right because doctors say it's healthy and prevents this or that, just like God has a plan so does the devil and we as Christians or believers need to be mindful. Hope this helps, God bless everyone!


James 1:14-15 ESV

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death

1 Corinthians 6:18 ESV

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 ESV /

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul


-doesn't speak specifically about masturbation but if there is a serious internal debate about whether it is or not, it's probably wrong but He gave us free will so Pray first, think second and always go with God

I just wrote some of this in an other thread so a bit is copy/past. As for healthy or unhealthy, sex of any type is healthy. It is a known stress reliever, healthy exercise and incites the production of hormones. At a certain age it becomes "use it or lose it." since men who continue to have sex will not have their testosterone levels drop off like those men who no longer engage in sex whether alone, with a partner, or whatever. The fear mongering you will find in books written prior to and up to the 1970's are absurd. These were given to boy scouts and other impressionable youngsters who were told it was "self abuse", would make you weak and listless, destroy your life force, make god sad and put hair on your palms. So no, you don't have to worry health wise. On the other hand if you are staying home from work on a regular basis to fiddle around and are losing weight because you don't have time to cook anymore since it takes time away from your hobby. If your friends on world of warcraft no longer see you because of it, then you should probably lay off some.

Here is the cut and past bit about the sin or no sin of it.

Onan spilled his seed and walked with god....apparently he wasn't seen again. It doesn't really say he went to hell or anything. The problem was if I remember right is that his brother had died without a son to continue his line, so it was Onan's job as his brother to lay with his brothers widow and impregnate her. Onan liked his job quite a bit though and so kept pulling out. Eventually god got annoyed about it and gave Onan a talking to. He said something like "the seed of your children cry out to me from the ground." yeah, and then he walked with god. A long walk too since you don't hear about him after that.

In the bible if you uhhhh, well, you know, you were considered unclean and had to spend the night outside of the confines of the tribe and probably give your hands a good washing. Then go to the priest and sacrifice something and likely have him looking askance at you thinking to himself, "that's the third time this week." I'm only fairly certain about the sacrificing bit of it, but that was the cure for everything else that made you unclean...things which included menstruation, finding a blemish on your skin, touching a carcass etc. So basically the clean/unclean aspect dealt with not sin but keeping sickness, germs, and leprosy from the rest of the tribe. This is the reason they were sent from the tribe and ritually washed after the period of time specified for that particular incident.

So, no. According to the bible it wasn't a sin. It just made your hands dirty....... have at 'er

A mortal sin is a sin committed with full knowledge that it's a sin. God has the ability to forgive all sin, if we come to him in the sacrament of confession with a contrite heart, confess the sin, an resolve not to commit again, and if we do to go back to him through confession.

I hope this helps

Who is it that says masturbation is a sin, and how qualified are they to say so? I am middle aged and I masturbate every other day, and by golly do I still enjoy the buzz.

I believe in God, and when I masturbate I don't hear Him telling me not to, could it be I am ignoring Him because I'm not listening to Him instead? Is God a He btw?

So long as you are in no way offending another, then masturbating all you like is fine by God I'm certain.

In a human way planet Earth, the place in which humans live, is a sinful place, and therefore it is only natural that we commit sin, it goes with the territory so to speak. Having said that then, where does God fit into the equation, He is non sinful yes, or is He?

If God is to be accepted then it must be adopted by us that He is sinful also, hence the reason why He is so forgiving of us. I repeat, so long as you in no way harm another via your personal masturbation then you have committed no sin.

I look at it from the point of what is the act taking you away from. If you weren't doing it would you be spending more time with your family, your community, your spouse? Is this keeping you from a deeper more loving relationship with another. The greatest commandment is to love God and love one another. If something is keeping you from that, it's not good.

It is healthy to seek alone time, and what you do in that time is your business. When you was younger did you have wet dreams, and if so did it make you feel sinful? It should have done if you think such release is sinful now. If masturbation is sinful then I am guilty of it many times over, does that mean God no longer wants anything to do with me? I think not somehow.

I completely agree what one does in their alone time is their business.
But when I'm alone I don't use my time well, so I try not to be alone. I use my talents better when I'm out in the community or wit family.

For a sin to be committed one must be aware that it is a sin and commit it in full consciousness. Things we do asleep or as a child before we are morally mature are not sinful. I believe God has the power to forgive all sin if we come to him through confession, admit our faults and what we plan to do to not commit again, and if we do we can always return to confession. I believe God wants something to do with every one of us.

I don't know if you are a spiritual person, but every faith encourages people to talk with their religious leaders and grow in their faith. I have benefited greatly from talking with my religious leader.

Kevin, masturbation is not a sin, and I think it's great that you're saving yourself for marriage!

While it may not be a sin, it's valid to ask, is the habit advancing your goal of marriage/ developing a relationship with another? Or is it a hinderance to it? Would your time in isolation be better spent cultivating your relationships? It certainly is a struggle.

Masturbation is only a sin when porn/lusting is involved. Trust me, I have asked two preachers on this same subject.

And I applaud you on waiting, Kevin!