Bothered by attitudes about masturbation

[Withoutfcf]

the fact of the matter is we are all going to have sexual thoughts, there is no way around that, the real question is what are we supposed to do about those thoughts, and how do we control them? It is part of our nature to think sexually that is the way God made us, after all the first command God gave us as humans was to be fruitful and multiply, ( Gen. 1:28 ) What Paul meant by burn, is to burn with lust, or passion. passion is a God given response to the attraction of the opposite sex, lust is driven by the impulse to want to have sex with someone where there is no relationship involved, no thoughts of marriage or long term relationship. How does a person keep these thoughts at bay? That is between you and Christ, each person is different, and their relationship to Christ and others also differs for each person, our relationship with the Word of God also differs with each person. The Holy Spirit brings it alive and speaks to us, each personally. Heb. 4:12

Are you saying its Justifiable to lust after your girlfriend? Because if you are then you're simply, Wrong.

[Indueseason]

Mod Note: This is a non debate forum.Either show your agreement of the Original Post, or move on to a thread you can agree with.

[galbro48026]

the fact of the matter is we are all going to have sexual thoughts, there is no way around that, the real question is what are we supposed to do about those thoughts, and how do we control them? It is part of our nature to think sexually that is the way God made us, after all the first command God gave us as humans was to be fruitful and multiply, ( Gen. 1:28 ) What Paul meant by burn, is to burn with lust, or passion. passion is a God given response to the attraction of the opposite sex, lust is driven by the impulse to want to have sex with someone where there is no relationship involved, no thoughts of marriage or long term relationship. How does a person keep these thoughts at bay? That is between you and Christ, each person is different, and their relationship to Christ and others also differs for each person, our relationship with the Word of God also differs with each person. The Holy Spirit brings it alive and speaks to us, each personally. Heb. 4:12

i believe 1 Cor 7 passage Paul was talking to people who were able to obtain the gift of celibacy as Paul said "not all men can receive this and even Jesus said this and he talked about spiritual eunuchs (Matt 19) even thought the disciples were saying to Jesus "man forgot all this marriage stuff its better to be single" but when Paul talked about the love marriage and the sex drive he was talking to everyone when he said "it is better to marry than to burn" so in context i believe it is referring to the love relationship and the sex drive as well which men did struggle with, they wanted to be married in love and have kids but it was better for them to obtain the gift of celibacy because they simply could do it. it was possibly proper for the long work of the ministry.

[SPITWAD]

Thank you for bringing us back to the word. that truly is the way out of any sin because our minds have to be constantly renewed. our tenancies are to gravitate towards the things that are wrong. we must will ourselves to seek the things that are good for us, both physically and spiritually. masterbation is a slippery slope and will drag anyone away from God. You might as well give yourself to the demon of lust it's self. renew your mind with the Word worship, pray, and find a confidant that you absolutely trust.

[Warrior4God]

A question I have is why do some Christians make masturbation seem like it's the absolute worst sin, or even "unforgivable sin," well, other than homosexuality? Isn't that a bit, well, much? I think some Christians have, shall we say, a bit of a hang up in this regard.

[LaMaisonDeTouTou]

There seems to be a very casual Christian attitude about the adverse effects of (habitual) masturbation. What can we do to make sure we don't fall into the same defeated mindset that God is not capable of delivering us from such addictions?

Good question. And false intimacy is an issue I'm making a priority for addressing within my area.

When I was about 16, I had the dubious pleasure of an ex-girlfriend asking me what I believed about masturbation. I say dubious because while it pleased my ego to be asked such a question (over an evening meal out, no less) she asked because she herself was struggling with the issue - and she had asked me because she was dubious of others who told her it was 'normal' and 'ok'. My answer was that it most definately is not OK - because it is a behavioural action that stems from lust. And Jesus explicitly tells us that lust is wrong.

My understanding now, seven years on, it still in agreement with that. But I now understand it much more fully.

We need to challenge the mindset around us - and to do that we need to wisen up, learn more. There are plenty of resources out there (i might start my own thread about this, actually).

As for making sure we don't fall into that defeatest mindset?

I think it's important to understand that the devil feeds us multiple and various lies, one of them being "did God really say that?" (causing us to doubt God). We need to remember how great and big God is - which is a daily thing for a Christian to do. Yet I know that is difficult to do - and the nature of any sin is that they cause us to harden our hearts - and so lead us even less likely to want to trust God. We need to be continually melted by God's beauty.

I'll leave this post by saying that when I recognise that my heart has become hardened, I often turn to three amazing talks given by Mike Reeves, theological advisor to UCCF - http://www.uccf.org.uk/student/the-love-of-god.htm I can't say I turn to the bible, because my heart is hard - I don't want to read the word!