The other day I confessed to a priest and asked him if masturbation was a sin. He said yes and that fapping is a "maturity issue" I have. I managed to go almost 1 week without fapping but today I gave in.
This terrifies me a lot because I feel like God will punish me on Earth because of this. Like He will make sure I fail to get a girlfriend or something because of my masturbation sin. I don't remember what was the longest I went without fapping but I always feel like every bad thing that happens to me is a direct consequence of fapping: that it's God punishing me for it. But if I don't fap for a week or so I go crazy. This of course wasn't a problem before I became Christian.
>then just stop being a Christian
I tried it but I didn't last. I went back to it because a close and helpful friend is a Christian. Also I'm constantly surrounded by Christians everywhere.
>then ask your friend for help
Idk if I can be comfortable telling her about masturbation issues.
I'm a Christian and I'm still struggling with masturbation
Do you believe that recreational sex is a sin? If not, then it's the same principle. If God is okay with you having sex with a girl just for the enjoyment of it, then I don't see why you fulfilling the same physical need yourself is such a big deal
I don't or more like I have trouble believing that. But I'm afraid that my beliefs don't matter if they are not "the Truth". I guess I'm afraid of being wrong.
Also most Christians seem to think that masturbation is different from recreational sex as long as the people having sex are married. This priest I talked to said that sexuality is only for a couple (I assume he meant married, can't remember if he said "married") and that masturbation is part of sexuality.
It's essentially a religious issue, obviously religion is important to you and fair enough on that but have you thought about practising your faith in your own way, i know a few Christians one if them is a stripper, yet her faith is still important to her she goes to church every sunday and helps with their buisness and every other night gets paid for taking off her clothes, most priests would consider that a sin and refrence the bible but the bible has changed texts hundreds of times now.
Masturbation hurts no one. Honestly stop being a pussy. Others so called "christians" are probably big wankers when they are alone.
Yeah I think you are right, also thanks for that example. This is probably what I need to do.
Yes, they have to be (otherwise idk how the fuck they do it, maybe they just have premarital sex in their hypocrisy or are just asexual). But then again Catholicism keeps reminding me to never judge others and only judge myself.
If you were really Christian you'd realize God of the New Testament doesn't directly punish you for sin. He doesn't cause or not cause events because you jerk off. Christianity doesn't really teach karma.
The whole book of Job is God screwing around with a faithful man. Doesn't really seem like what you do makes a difference, except faith, grace and seeking forgiveness from those you wrong and the Lord.
Hell is really the only karma-like thing Christians abide by and fear, and oddly enough that is a concept Christianity pulls from Greek religion.
Also, many high ranking officials in the Catholic Church molested kids and God didn't strike them down. Heck, many got away with it.
You are right. Idk how I ended up thinking God directly punishes me for this. Maybe it's because I once had a bunch of bad things happen to me in a row and I assumed it was because I didn't help some old woman in need a few days before. But yah the New Testament has that part where a bunch of Jews were killed if I recall correctly, someone asked Jesus if was their own fault and Jesus says no.
Nowhere in the Bible is masturbation condemned as sin, the only verse they pull out is in Genesis 38 where Judah commands his son Oman to impregnate his deceased brother's wife but instead of doing so Oman pulls out and it angers God.
Just don't masturbate to porn and try to keep your mind clear, there's a difference between lust and arousal, arousal can happen without lust, for example you wake up in the morning with 'morning wood', that's not because you were thinking about women or even dreaming about women. Just do it for release, it comes out regardless, just through less healthy ways i.e peeing (yes if you don't masturbate long enough your cum is mixed in your pee) and wet dreams.
I suggest focusing on bigger matters such as: turning the other cheek and giving to the poor. Christ said, when talking about the religious leaders of his day, "You strain at gnats and swallow camels" (meaning you stress small matters but ignore large ones) and he also said "You lay upon man heavy burdens grievous to carry yet will not lift a finger to help them do so."
It's cool man, to go back to my example she's perfectly happy with who she is and her faith as she isn't tied down to what scripture says, especially when the scripture once condemned the gays yet we have openly gay preist (inb4 smol bois) even the current pope is chill with that shit, end of the day you'll find your own answer but do what makes you happy as long as you dont hurt yourself or others which at it's roots it what all religions speak of, its zealots that ruin things
Try reading up Theology of the Body - your sexuality is a gift from God. It is designed for married couples, however you can't help when you feel aroused can you?
Don't feel guilty for something that's natural. Guilt and shame are tools the enemy uses to make you anxious and keep you from the joy God wants for you. He wants you to honor yourself and to honor women, to view people and their bodies with purity since they are made in His image.
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As far as scripture goes, masturbation isn't a sin in itself, masturbation is only looked down upon, because it goes hand in hand in sin. Viewing pornography or thinking lustfully of a person that isn't your spouse are sins that almost always go with masturbation.
The only way to not sin, is to masturbate without stimulation (pretty much impossible) or to try extremely hard to not not masturbate at all.
Sorry user. Godspeed.
I noticed masturbation feels better when you focus on what you're feeling and not something to keep you aroused.
I haven't masturbated in 3weeks and for some reason I'm scared to. I fucked up my first potential relationship recently so I guess that's why.
I need to sort myself out.
If you need to sort yourself out, you could try doing a time and energy consuming hobby like lifting or studying. That would be effective in reducing masturbation temptation, because you won't have the time or energy.
Try these boards for advice:
This is why superstition fucks people up. Now your all anxious and guilty about your bodies natural functions. Your wasting all your time and energy worried about rubbing yourself. Why dont you ask your preist about picking your nose next and all the ethics on that? He might tell you its ok so long as you put your booger under your chair rather than in your mouth or something. Or hell just say its a sin.
Fuck off faggot
Yeah I’ve some similar issues with the Church and the faith. It’s a real shame the Church doesn’t know how to deal with the desire - it’s a powerful primal urge and shaming or guilting someone into stopping is entirely ineffective. I’m sure it’s one of the reasons why people are turning more and more against faith in the western world.
I would say that masturbation is unhealthy though - but feeling guilt or shame from the experience is entirely unproductive.
God's gonna smash you under his fist like you smash your dick. Jut like he did to Onan.
Dude , your body makes sperm , these sperm need to get out of you or they die.
A large build up of dead sperm in your balls will kill you, this is scientific truth.
Jerking off to porn will save your life and keep you healthier.
Okay so first of all: yes, masturbation is a sin. But your understanding of what "sin" is seems to be lacking.
A sin is an affront towards God, which you should be avoiding for obvious reasons (you do not want to insult God with your thought, action or neglect).
The only thing about sin that condemns you is no desire to stop offending God this way, as it basically means lack of respect for Him (no care whether you sin or not).
>I feel like God will punish me on Earth because of this
He is merciful and not vengeful. He's ready and willing to forgive you all your sins if you confess. Waiting on you to once again pick the right path and start over. He does not tire nor grow bored.
He'll always be there for you to forgive you the insults you throw at Him. Trust in Him, and you'll see your worries, like that of finding a girlfriend, fade away. He really knows what's best for you.
>I always feel like every bad thing that happens to me is a direct consequence of fapping
This is a matter of different nature: humans are pattern-seeking machines. Their well-being relies on them being able to identify causal reactions in the world around us.
You found this "reaction" and cling to it, but the truth of it is - it's a false assumption and these are completely unrelated.
If anything, it's you who's punishing yourself, because you find it bad and want to stop, and in consequence bring disasters on yourself to justify your fear in it.
>if I don't fap for a week or so I go crazy
Yes. First week is very difficult. First month as well. But once you get past that, it becomes much easier and you can make it a forever.
I'm keeping this short because Jow Forums character limits, but if you got any questions then fire away.
God isn't a big man in the sky gazing down on you. God is everything and everywhere, incuding you.
So the sign is wrong because when you're masturbating you're literally holding hands with God.
Purpose of sex is to have children. It's Gods greatest gift to you. It's the only thing we can do where we create another LIVING thing. It allows us to share in Gods creative power
That being said, sex also brings immense pleasure. And this pleasure is nothing to be ashamed of. However, isolating that pleasure in lieu of sexes natural purpose (childbirth) is wrong and is a sin.
Therefor masturbation, birth control, abortion, 'pulling out', and homosexuality are all sins. They isolate the pleasure from sex without actually procreating with your wife. Remember the man in the relationship represents Christ while the women represents his church (Galatians). You cannot have one without the other in union. And therefor must be unified to have and raise children properly in the eyes of God
It's really simple. If you can't grasp this simple concept your heart just isn't fully committed to being a Christian. I haven't had sex or masturbated in two years. The first couple months were hard but once I got used to it it wasn't so bad. Of course girls still turn me on but I'm not acting on my lustful desires so I don't masturbate or have sex.
People think being a man is having lots of sex and masturbating etc. that is being a child. A true man has control of his passions and emotions and canis master of them. A child is a slave to them. It sounds like you are a slave to your passions.
Maybe one day you'll understand. God knows it took me a long time to
I don't necessarily think masturbation is a sin. Masturbating is healthy for you generally speaking.
However, a lot of what goes into the making of pornography is sinful and unethical, so perhaps masturbate without the porn.
I don't think you should give up your religion or go to confession every time you fap.
Masturbating is a physical release that generally hurts no one. I think it's better than having random sex with people you don't care about
>Inb4 a bunch of masturbation jokes about sex with someone you love
I feel like it is a sin to bring any more children into this god-forsaken earth, lest we spoil the remainder of its resources and start killing each other like rats. But that’s just me.
God forgives sins if you're genuinely remorseful, do you think every sage in existence was celebate by magic?
God appreciates genuine struggle and rather than punish you for giving into your own pleasure (as you're already punishing yourself for it through genuine remorse) he'll reward you for sticking with it, but you shouldn't expect clear cut results eitherway.
Pray for forgiveness and stick with it, past the first two weeks nofap gets easier (Day 102 here after failing week after week). And stop being a fucking Papist, a Roman Catholic Priest will send you to hell quicker than any fap ever would, read your bible.
I can't say im Christian (but we sort of are/ fliplander here)
For me, As long as you are not hurting anyone and it's done in moderation it should be fine.
Also, It's not good to hold it for too long.
But i dont think god will do you bad as petty as this (again just my 2c)
Just think of a group of people you hate and tell yourself only they masturbate.
Works for me everytime
As an actual christian, I always get deeply disgusted whenever I read someting like this.
Those Anabaptist American sects have NOTHING to do with being christian whatsoever. You are being taught things fit for freakish cultists, not christians.
Read up on the actual christian creed( the new Testament, catholicist and lutheran writings) and recognize that your preist is simply a cultist with the highest goal to instill guilt in you and control you through it.
Theres a good reason non-american people all think american """Christians"""" are complete freaks.
THsi guy for example put fairly well what christianity's all about.
>Don't be a dick
AS if god gave a fuck what you're doing to your cock in your spare time. Just don't overdo it, for your own sake alone.
>You can't hold hands when you're masturbating?
I don't see why not. I only need one hand to masturbate.
Having an old man tell you that God will punish you for masturbating and then believing him is more degenrate than just masturbating.
If you dont masturbate then youll just start cumming in your sleep which is the same principle only you arent directly responsible. Its just more logical to jerk off and avoid the trouble.
>t. hardcore catholic
The need to masturbate likely comes in a large part from some kind of unfulfilled need.
The need tends to be sex, but could be other things, like respect or affirmation.
Trying to stop the action without addressing the unfulfilled need will Not last.
Be honest with yourself and examine your motivations.
Do you masturbate because:
-you were rejected by your dream girl?
-you want someone to want you, but no one seems interested?
-you want to be a sex god, but know you're not Fabio?
That's the first step. Getting a fix on what your need Really is. Then you'll need to do some repenting, as in, "changing your mind" about some of the assumptions underlying your need.
Example.
-your dream girl is one of many candidates. God is not short on suitable matches, and He is letting BOTH of you choose.
-make sure you want SO BADLY to be wanted that you make yourself wantable. Vis, CLEANLINESS, GENEROUS, not just nice guy, but GOOD guy.
-you are excused for not being Fabio if you excuse girls for not being Marilyn Monroe.
If you are Christian, PRAY. Dont think God wont answer because you are masturbating: God commissioned Paul to apostleship while he was MURDERING CHRISTIANS. God made Peter apostle again AFTER Peter betrayed Him. JESUS DIED TO MAKE YOU RIGHTEOUS. Stop calling yourself a sinner: see Prov 17:15. "To justify a wicked person and to condemn an innocent are alike abomination to the Lord" You are an Innocent before God because of Jesus; stop saying Jesus' death wasn't good enough to clear your debt. It is a perverse pride to say you STILL deserve punishment. That was what Judas did. Don't follow his example.
Jesus DOES love you. He DELIGHTS to know he made you, that YOU exist. He WILL answer you, as a father does a favored child.
And that's all I got.
:D
Well this priest is pretty young, like in his 30s. I thought he was gonna be more open and realistic about it.
Well I'm South American but I get what you mean.
Thanks a lot to everyone for your replies, I think I have a clearer perspective now.
So basically its a sin to have sex with my wife after shes barren. Fuck that. Religion is for repressive basket cases. Always has and always will be. Jesus/christianity is no better than scientology/tom cruise/Lronaldhubbard. Humans and all living creatures all have sex and they do it for pleasure. Sorry that bothers you but its true. You can have sex with wife quite a few times without getting her pregnant. Making each act a sin. This repressive nonsense is why catholoc preists get all fucked in the head and rape the altar boy.
The way I see it is that most of gods commands aren't to worship him but to help us lead a better life. Masturbation can cloud your vision and harm your soul (think the nofap thing). That's probably also where the "god punishing" you comes from.
>harm your body with excessive masturbation
>have low confidence and thrive to get a gf
>etc.
If you don't think masturbation harms you that's your call however. There is a big debate on it within christianity as well.
>You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:28
>And this pleasure is nothing to be ashamed of. However, isolating that pleasure in lieu of sexes natural purpose (childbirth) is wrong and is a sin.
Also this. Ties into what I said, I believe. It is again a way to ensure you lead the most fullfilling life.
I disagree with sex being only for procreation, however as I think it was also created as a bonding mechanism between two spouses. But I can see why you might disagree.
Also
>It's really simple. If you can't grasp this simple concept your heart just isn't fully committed to being a Christian.
Don't let yourself be discouraged user. God's path was never meant to be the easy one. I'm glad this user has an easy time but nobody should fault you for having a harder time.
The Roman Catholic church told gays they would be 'cured' if they swore themselves to celibacy. Their urges were instead just bottled up, to be released in secrecy with a bunch of captive little boys.
Such is the difference between releasing your feelings and storing them. Release is healthy storing is not.
>That's probably also where the "god punishing" you comes from.
Under Christianity, divine punishment is a simple system of cause and effect. The divine punishment for alcohol abuse is liver damage, the punishment for sloth is poverty, the punishment for ruthless aggression is alienation of loved ones. Hell is a place where the devil fled to escape divine authority, for his followers to join for the same reason.
Roman Catholicism is half Christianity half native voodoo from all over the third world.
Get out of the cult
From christian to christian here.
>He will make sure I fail to get a girlfriend or something because of my masturbation sin
God does not "punish" anyone because of sin, as the price for every sin has already been paid at the cross. Were He to really punish someone, that would be certain death.
Problem is, sin separates us from Him. Weakens our connection to the Holy Spirit and His guidance in our everyday life. And as such, things eventually turn out bad, we make wrong decisions, we take wrong turns, we step in "spiritual traps", easily get angry, mad, we can't realise our mistakes, the whole nine.
But if you still feel bad about masturbating, if you still feel guilt, that means the Holy Spirit still is with you, God has not given up on you, there is still hope.
>i know a few Christians one if them is a stripper, yet her faith is still important to her she goes to church every sunday
Modern "Christians" are a fucking joke.
>"You are a woman [man] made in God's image and likeness"
>"grant me the purity of heart to see the image of glory in the beauty of this woman [man]"
God is a trap confirmed. Hogwash, also, guilt and shame are central to preserving morality, otherwise there would be no consequences for behaving like an utter degenerate.
Indeed. Church=cult.
No way around it.
What a load of pretentious bullshit. Everyone sins. Including you Saint user. You forget yourself.
That ain't how it works. The whole issue is being "open to life". Having sex with a barren woman could bring child, like it did for Sarah, and so it's fine to have sex without getting pregnant. There's even something called NFP, which is essentially church-approved birth control, because it's natural and open to life.
Most other Anons have covered what I wanted to say but I do have one thing to add. Can't remember the chapter/verse but I think Paul says hold every thought captive to Christ. You should be able to tell when a thought will lead to sin, and the second that thought enters your mind, you call out to Christ.
I think I'm in my 7th week now without fapping and it does get easier, but there is still temptation. Remember also that for every temptation He offers a way of escape.
It's hilarious how religion can make people internally torn apart about the most trivial and harmless aspects of ordinary human life.
It's honestly one of the least humorous parts of religion.
Yes, how dare some people try to rise above their baser instincts. They should be in the bucket with you! Drag them back down!
theres a huge difference between a wank in private and going around having premarital sex. it's undeniable. if anything, porn is a the only area where jacking off would become an issue at all.
True, practically speaking, but the restraint one must have to go full nofap is admirable. It's better to err on the side of caution, after all.
okay, but to expect that out of everyone, especially confused teenagers whos hormones are going insane, is whack. better to have them jacking off than getting sexually frustrated and expressing it in some other degenerate way.
No argument from me, although I still think it's good to have some sense of shame surrounding it, as well as praise for those who can overcome it.
The sperm will die and decompose. You do not need to wank. This poster is a faggot without citation.
There is no lust in wet dreams, but there is in wanking.
No god that punishes you for being human is worthy of worship.