Is Masturbation a Sin- 10 Things the Bible Says
Is masturbation a sin? This is one of the questions most people have. The Bible has immense significance as a religious text that dictates beliefs and practices for millions of people worldwide.
However, addressing more intimate subjects such as self-pleasure tends to be tricky and tactfully brought up due to the impossible task of applying ancient texts to modern understanding.
By analyzing the biblical position regarding self-pleasuring, one can gain deep insight into the moral precepts and ethical values that relate to human sexuality. Here are things the Bible says about this subject.
1. There is an order concerning sexual pleasure
From the scripture, there is an order highlighted concerning sexual pleasure. So, according to the scriptures, is masturbation a sin? The Bible says God created human beings in His own image and called us “very good” (Genesis 1:27, 31). That tells me something important about the way God looks at physical pleasure. He created these amazing physical bodies of ours capable of delightful sensations and feelings. Within the right boundaries, God intends for us to enjoy the pleasures of being embodied creatures. Too often, the church has taken an overly negative view of physical pleasure.
There’s almost an assumption that anything pleasurable must be suspect in some way. But why would God create our taste buds to love sweets, our skin to crave a caress, or our eyes to feast on beauty if He did not want us to enjoy those good gifts? Of course, as with anything that is powerful and good, bodily pleasures can be misused and abused. But the problem is not the pleasure- it’s the distortion and excess. What God made is good, so physical pleasure has its legitimate place when expressed within His boundaries of wisdom.
2. Enjoyment within God’s Boundaries
In keeping with this high view of physical creation, the Bible speaks frequently in positive terms of the enjoyment of God’s good gifts.
For example, Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 says straight out, “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil- this is God’s gift.” Did you catch that last part? The simple but real pleasures of life; eating, drinking, and the reward of our work-these are gifts our Creator intends for us to relish during our days on earth.
Of course, for these pleasures to remain the blessing God means them to be, they must stay within appropriate boundaries. Anything good in excess inevitably becomes harmful and destructive.
Food, one of life’s basic delights, makes a vivid object lesson. If we eat past fullness on too regular a basis, we damage our health and waistlines! We feel nauseous and ill because this once-sweet pleasure has become bitter through over-indulgence. But is the food itself then somehow contaminated? Of course not – the problem lies not in the inherent nature of food but in our abuse of that created good. Other physical pleasures similarly turn sour when we detach these from their Creator’s wise constraints.
Our desires need moderation and self-mastery born of love for God and deference to His design if they are to serve positively in our flourishing. For then, they enhance our enjoyment of life rather than erode our health and character.
3. Moderation and Self-Control
Proverbs 25:16 graphically drives the principle of balance and self-regulation home with regard to pleasures, saying, “If you find honey, eat just enough, too much of it, and you will vomit.”
What a thought-provoking picture this is of how something sweet and delicious goes from being a wonderful treat to something that makes you feel absolutely sick!
The following graphic object lesson conveys a basic key to healthy living, yet its application goes far beyond the plate.
All of the delights of life can be enjoyed in moderation but become nauseating and self-destructive when indulged to excess. Notice the verse does not say to avoid honey altogether. It is the sweetness that makes honey delightful and yet hazardous; but like any strong good, the trouble only arises when it overflows its banks.
Used in moderation, honey offers some extraordinary hedonic properties that are integral to good cuisine. Surely we would not want to totally eliminate such a healthy and delectable ingredient from our diets! Similarly, human sexuality and other intense bodily pleasures have a proper context in which they have deep meaning and provide deep bonding.
But without self-discipline that has its roots in reverence for God’s order, they easily reduce to ashes, leaving shame, regret, and relationships damaged. How can we keep this healthy balance with pleasures so we reap their life-giving qualities without sliding into dangerous excess? I feel the answer rests in the intent that motivates putting God at the center of all that we do with our bodies.
Does Masturbation therefore constitute a sin? When we make the ultimate goal to chase whatever feels good at any given moment, we will most certainly cross important lines. But if we first set our hearts on pleasing and honoring our Lord, determine to find our deepest satisfaction in Him, and let our values and behavior flow out of that committed relationship, then moderation and self-control come far more naturally.
4. The Danger of Lust
Discussing the appropriate enjoyment of the body’s pleasures requires addressing those hazards that undermine and distort God’s good gift of sexuality. I think, in particular, of the problem of lust, as Jesus spoke about it in His Sermon on the Mount: “Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28).
What is lust, exactly, and why does Jesus take it so seriously? Lust fundamentally objectifies another person for our gratification. We no longer look upon them as an integrated, sacred individual made in the likeness of God but rather through a filter of avaricious desire. This utilitarian perspective robs them of dignity and fails to love them as we ought.
Lust also plants seeds of sin of masturbation that threaten marriages, families, and societies when allowed to blossom. It engenders dissatisfaction with one’s spouse, inflicts entitlement to forbidden pleasures, and rationalization of conduct outside God’s will.
Once we internally justify sinful actions, putting them into practice follows far more easily. That’s why Jesus places lust in the same category as the destructive sin of adultery. They grow from the same bitter root.
God, by contrast, created marital intimacy to be the means whereby husbands and wives declare and deepen profound love, trust, tenderness, care, and commitment between each other.
It involves passion, but it is about so much more than selfish, momentary sensuality taken at the cost of another. When we lust, we degrade sacred sexuality into baser appetite and infatuation.
We miss so much rich meaning and joy! The beauty of sexuality is protected by refusing the omnipresent cultural messages that normalize lust, and practicing intentional self-discipline by God’s power.
5. Fix Your Eyes on Eternal Pleasures
To pursue and enjoy pleasure is to come close to the heart of what makes us most human. Our Creator wired our capacities for physical sensation and happiness right into these earthly bodies of ours.
But all the while, Scripture balances that by reminding us that as much as there are things in this earth that give us delight and are meant to finally be a means of sustaining and refreshing us, these pale in comparison to the delights God has in store for us.
The psalmist says, “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand”.
What wondrous motivation lies in that cosmic promise! As redeemed believers, we need to keep this breathtaking hope ever before us. We are on a lifelong adventure of coming to know delights in the very presence of God, sources of supreme joy which will only reach their full fruition in eternity.
As we walk in friendship with Christ, taste His goodness, trust His faithfulness through life’s changes, and rest in His unconditional love, we can start discovering those pleasures even now. One day, they will overwhelm us with their limitless depth and sweetness! With such abundant, authentic delights in prospect, it certainly will be worth our while to stake mainly on the acquisition of this endless reward rather than to pursue vain shadow.
When tempted to gratify these fleshly desires in some manner banned by God’s precepts, we will do well to remember what we would be giving up in the process, which would be more real pleasures than we could dream. The Word says, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace and life” (Proverbs 3:17). Why choose anything less?
6. Glorifying Our Body as the Temple of God
One concept that has really framed my understanding of physical pleasure and sensuality is the biblical principle of our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit. That awesome reality should lead us to treat our physical frame with great care and respect. When we mistreat or misuse our bodies, we desecrate the dwelling place of God’s very presence and that matters!
So, is masturbation a sin? Viewing my body as the temple of the living God causes me to pause and reflect with thoughtful care about how I tend and make decisions concerning this amazing gift.
It means embracing those life-giving activities that rejuvenate and restore while rejecting that which would poison or destroy. Are my habits and indulgences enriching my relationship with God, or are they causing distance between us? Are my choices regarding food, exercise, sleep, or substance use reflecting that I view my body as holy space where the Spirit resides? This ideal of honoring our embodied selves also pertains to questions of intimacy and sexuality.
God created our bodily capacity for intense sensual bonding and pleasure with divine intentionality. In marriage, sexual intimacy tends to bring about oneness, nurture, selfless fulfillment, and the miracle of new life. It touches something of heaven even while our feet stay firmly planted on earth.
Obviously, God created sex and sexuality for great good! But we need wisdom on how to receive this gift in ways consistent with treasuring our bodies as holy space. There are some expressions that distort and dishonor His intentions. One ethic that seems wise to me and that I try to live by is not to do anything with my body that would wedge my communion with the Holy Spirit. With this in place, I pray to continue developing discernment regarding how to enjoy the pleasures of sex as God intended sacred celebration of lifelong love and commitment.
7. The Gift of Sex within Marriage
In this connection, it is clear from the Bible that God designed sexuality to flourish in the exclusive covenant of one man and one woman united in marriage. The Bible frankly says to husbands and wives: “Do not deprive one another” but give yourself fully to sexual intercourse with joy and liberality, as 1 Corinthians 7:3-6 says. Because it was designed by the Creator Himself, marital sex serves purposes wonderfully that are hard to understand outside a lifelong covenant commitment:
First and most obviously, it allows a couple to fulfill God’s first command to humanityโ be fruitful and multiply through bearing and raising children.
Becoming parents enlarges our capacity to give and receive love without limits. But even when new life is not brought into being, something sacramental also occurs through the sexual union of male and female.
It is through this most intimate act, which in some way that defies complete explanation, the Bible says we become “one flesh.” This connection goes past emotional closeness to literal merging through bodily realities. Through sex, a husband and wife continually reiterate the promises made, incarnating their exclusive devotion to one another until parted by death. So is masturbation a sin?
8. The Destructive Effects of Sexual Immorality
When sexuality brings such multi-dimensional blessings within marriage-physical enjoyment, emotional intimacy, spiritual bonding, relational nurture, family life-we suffer terrible loss when it becomes detached from God’s guardrails. Tragically, Scripture and human experience make all too clear the descent from pleasure to pain when we cross sexual boundaries. Consider these devastating fruits of sexual immorality:
Broken trust, damaged self-worth, guilt, disease, pregnancy crisis, abortion trauma, poverty, child neglect, and broken homes. And at the root of it all, it’s ruptured intimacy with God as sin drives a wedge, separating us from the Holy Spirit’s presence.
Irrespective of what our culture may preach, acting on those impulses outside God’s blueprints inevitably unleashes destruction. Whatever a man is sowing, that he will reap. He who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” loves us too much to let us remain satisfied with less than His created intention without consequence.
So, is masturbation a sin? In mercy, Scripture shouts loud warnings because our Creator knows how cruelly sexual sin scars his beloved children who bear his image. How crucial that we listen and choose the path of purity and patience that leads to blessing rather than cursing!
The gift of sexuality was meant to be enjoyed in marriage, between husband and wife. All other roads lead to sorrow, no matter how attractive they may appear. May God give us wisdom to embrace His good design and the courage to say no to every empty counterfeit!
9. The Way of Escape
The practice of walking in purity demands more than just strong motivation and sincere effort supplied through God’s grace. It also requires the concreteness of learning how to resist the pull of temptation when weakness hits. Which is why I’m so grateful for the apostle Paul’s assurance that God Himself provides a way out when we face sin: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
So is masturbation a sin? It’s in refusing to indulge that initial spark that keeps it from erupting into a raging bonfire. In time, godly desires reassert themselves with renewed force. It’s in continuing to choose obedience, trusting God’s faithfulness over and over, that new habits and passions get rooted, making righteousness the path of least resistance. I am sure that by the Spirit I can press on towards sexual integrity and every other kind of purity in accordance with God’s good design by the help of the Holy Spirit. His promises are sure.
10. The Blessing of a Clean Slate
When we do fall into sexual sin, whether in thought or deed, all is lost in those first moments after we have succumbed to our guilt and our grief.
We rightfully lament the pain we have caused, knowing we have damaged lives and relationships, including our relationship with God. But even at the pit of regret, we must remember the Lord’s promise to us: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” -1 John 1:9.
By Christ, the stain and heft of sin wash away utterly. We stand clean before him as we turn our backs on past wrongs and walk forward into new mercy. God himself casts those failures as far as the East is from the West. They no longer define us or determine our destiny.
Receiving this gift of total forgiveness equips us to extend mercy toward others trapped in patterns of sexual brokenness as well.
Conclusion
Investigating the morality of masturbation from a biblical perspective is a highly sophisticated and multi-dimensional undertaking. Throughout this discussion, we have discussed the following aspects related to the subject: biblical texts, theological explanations, and ethical connotations about self-stimulation.
The Bible does not explicitly address the practice of masturbation; however, it provides a principle and teaching to formally address fundamental propositions regarding sexual ethics, self-control, and personal responsibility. From the story of Onan to Jesus’ teachings about lustful thoughts, biblical narratives, and teachings provide insights into the complexity of human sexuality and the quest for moral integrity.
You’ll also love:
Why God Asked Me To Leave My Unequally Yoked Relationship
19 Bible Verses To Remind You Of Your Worth In Christ
Why Weโre Called to Treat Our Body As the Temple of the Holy Spirit: 10 Important Points