15 minutes or 15 days of sin.

[ChevyRodeo]

Would you rather spend 15 minutes relieving yourself and having it past you and not on your mind, or spend hours everyday feeling that tension for weeks, all worked up and it driving you mad! Which one is the obsession.

 

[knowprayr]

We have to remember that Jesus spent most of his preaching career fighting temptation from every direction. He even says that if we follow him, we will suffer persecution. That persecution can come from family, friends, peers, enemies, and unfortuneatly, it can come from yourself. But the Word says that we must die to ourselves daily! Meaning that we must renew our Spirit and strengthen it so it can override our flesh when it rises up. Sin is not a thought; its an action....

The obsession you ask is in the relief. A continual denial that the wrong you do is okay. There is a relief in quitting, but your treasures are being sacraficed. I hope that I said that right....

 

[Ramsey]

I have heard a lot of people say different things about it. I know some guys that have stopped all together, but they very small in number. Masterbation is like an addiction especially when pornography is involved, and the guys I have talked to say it took them months to get over it kind of like getting rid of an alcohol addition.

I would say, if you are going to do it, stay away from the porno because many men get addicted to it. That can be a pandoras box of problems, especially when you get married, that you do not want to get stuck on.

 

[jasoncran]

ramsey are you a soldier in afghanistan?

 

[RND]

Maybe you'll find the following video of some value regarding dating one's self. I hope you find it informative and a blessing.

[youtube:1orw0ejx]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDVDsW2Bqaw[/youtube:1orw0ejx][/quote]

 

[Ramsey]

ramsey are you a soldier in afghanistan?

Roger

 

[jasoncran]

i asked this after i saw the location:afghanistan before your new member post.

 

[Mikey]

Maybe you'll find the following video of some value regarding dating one's self. I hope you find it informative and a blessing.

[youtube:daw9bypc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDVDsW2Bqaw[/youtube:daw9bypc]

[/quote]
He's so epic!
He said alot of intersting stuff though, and his words are very empowering.

 

[RND]

Maybe you'll find the following video of some value regarding dating one's self. I hope you find it informative and a blessing.

[youtube:2h2a0cux]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDVDsW2Bqaw[/youtube:2h2a0cux]

He's so epic!
He said alot of intersting stuff though, and his words are very empowering.

Glad you liked the Forerunner, he is quite good. Praise the Lord.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheForerunner777

 

[Slyvena]

Would you rather spend 15 minutes relieving yourself and having it past you and not on your mind, or spend hours everyday feeling that tension for weeks, all worked up and it driving you mad! Which one is the obsession.

That madness and tension is merely a withdrawal symptom like all other addictions once you've been out of it for a while its not a problem anymore, believe me I was into it more than once a day and I tried to stop twice unsuccessfully because it pulled me back. I made so many excuses as to why it was right, its only now that I'm out of it that I see such excuses as exactly what they were, excuses. Life just got a whole lot inexplicably brighter once I'd stopped.

 

[NoMoreSilence]

At the OP:

I would rather have 15 minutes of opening up and getting it out.
But there are consequences that follow.

 

[Carpathian]

As a christian who is suffering from this addiction, I shall say, no. 15 minutes of pleasure will not cure the problem. It will, in fact, create more problems as you go along. 15 days is better than no days at all; mainly because it shows yourself that you can go a day without masturbation. I went 20 days sober, and I broke it because of a porno link on YouTube that appeared above the most viewed...I say it's porno because a girl with barely enough clothing on and showing everything God (or science) has blessed her with is pornography.

I say, Pray unto God. 1 Corinthians 6 12:20 has a lot to say on the issue. I'll simply quote from verses 18-19, Good news bible : "Avoid immorality. Any other sin a man commits does not affect his body; but the man who is guilty of sexual immorality sins against his own body. Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who has given you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God."

I struggle too, so I know how hard this is. I also know that the times when I was sober, God's strength kept me and allowed me to find some freedom. It also pays off to quit when you know that the one thing you won't be thinking of, is coming home to masturbate.

 

[HolyBeast]

Fight it, kill it, and finish it.

Its tough, it wont die easily, and temptation is everywhere. But its the same way with all other sins. You will go through a period of withdrawel, just like any other addiction (It is an addiction) but once you get past the withdrawel stage you will be able to rise to new heights in your prayer/word life.

Masterbation is an obstacle that blocks you and from a spirit filled life.

How do i know?

- Because when your about to masterbate, you lust
- During Masterbation, you lust ferverantly on women
- Afterwards, the pornographic images stick in your head, and you feel a large amount of guilt and emptyness.
- And during every stage, you dont want to be anywhere near God
- And not long later your back on the computer wanting more

"Sin (Pornography) promises to please and serve, but only enslaves and dominates" (Edwin Louis Cole)

 

[jasoncran]

Fight it, kill it, and finish it.

Its tough, it wont die easily, and temptation is everywhere. But its the same way with all other sins. You will go through a period of withdrawel, just like any other addiction (It is an addiction) but once you get past the withdrawel stage you will be able to rise to new heights in your prayer/word life.

Masterbation is an obstacle that blocks you and from a spirit filled life.

How do i know?

- Because when your about to masterbate, you lust
- During Masterbation, you lust ferverantly on women
- Afterwards, the pornographic images stick in your head, and you feel a large amount of guilt and emptyness.
- And during every stage, you dont want to be anywhere near God
- And not long later your back on the computer wanting more

"Sin (Pornography) promises to please and serve, but only enslaves and dominates" (Edwin Louis Cole)

aint that the truth.

 

[God's Child]

Why is it that every masturbation discussion is related only to men? I think it's incredibly sexist to only discuss it in terms of men and think this is not a sexual sin/temptation women struggle with as well. It is insulting to women and causes the women who do struggle with it to do so silently because no one else is willing to acknowledge that the struggle even exists. It forces them to think less of themselves because they think they are alone in their struggle when that simply is just not true. I am willing to state that as many women struggle with masturbation and lust as much as men do. Until the rest of the world acknowledges that, women will continue to struggle with no one to talk to or understand them. They will continue to think there must be something wrong with them for having this struggle. Please do not continue the ignorance and sexism.

 

[Tidus]

It can be beaten. You need to have the mindset of wanting to suffocate it to death. Kill it. Destroy it. Don't leave any traces of it behind (Which means not rationalizing ANY kind of lust. Even if it's just a thought, force yourself to remember "This is sin, and sin leads to destruction.")

Would you rather spend 15 minutes relieving yourself and having it past you and not on your mind, or spend hours everyday feeling that tension for weeks, all worked up and it driving you mad!

This is the same as a drug addict saying, "Which is better, me just spending 15 minutes getting my "fix" so that I can have it past me and not on my mind, or spending hours, everyday feeling that tension, for weeks, all worked up and driving me mad!

The answer is the latter. Giving it up is better, because eventually you can become fully free from it and break the addiction.

It starts and ends in your mind. IF you can plug the flow of lust from the source- your thoughts- then you can destroy it all the way down.

You only feel super-agitated and tempted when you have let yourself lust in your mind or gotten into a tempting situation. Once you have dropped the guard in your mind and let yourself lust, your body will follow suit and soon you will be desperately tempted to fall back into sin.

Instead, close your mind off to any sort of lust. If you can push the thoughts out, your body will not work against you as much and you can beat the habit.

Another tactic is simply this: Focus on your future husband/wife. What you do today effects the marriage you will have one day. If you can break these bad habits now, your marriage will flourish for it later.

God bless you and may the stronghold be forever broken

 

[jeremy7whelan]

Great to see such an open conversation about the 'M word' because it s such a taboo which it shouldn't be.

I too struggle and make many excuses but i've learned that the word lust can also be described simply as a 'desire for sexual entertainment' and that's what I have to remind myself with; even if one does not have a history/problem with porn, even if one can relieve himself without any thoughts, it is almost impossible to separate the action from the motive: desire for sexual entertainment, which is the same thing as lust. And thus it's sin. And sin grows and leads to a desire to explore into illicit territory which leads to porn addiction, which destroys a man or woman and has life long consequences.

However for men there is a valid problem in that the body is designed with sexual needs (physically) which is a question that bothers me a lot. If a man has a history/problem with porn then theres no way to for him to be able to relieve himself without falling into sin. But for the man who has no such history, is there a grey area where it's ok? Given what I've already concluded I'm leaning towards saying no, there isn't a grey area but what do others think?

 

[jeremy7whelan]

Here's a great resource. It's a pastor addressing the problem directly. It's better than the other guy who just made me laugh hysterically. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=583aZdjisS8&feature=related

 

[jeremy7whelan]

here's another one with some other young men giving their testimonies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjNK5SuWOIs&feature=relmfu

this is just fantastic that the taboo and stronghold is being broken!

 

[Jam]

I would argue that masturbation is not inherently sinful; it is the lustful thoughts that accompany it that cause its sinful nature. If one can masturbate without thinking any lustful thoughts, then I do not believe one is sinning. Of course, masturbating without thinking lustful things is incredibly difficult- but not impossible. It can be done simply by meditating whilst masturbating; just keep an entirely blank mind until you finish.

Regardless, I don't think that that is an ideal solution, as it only works short-term. Also, if an individual has the willpower to restrain thoughts whilst in such a physically-orientated state, then they almost certainly have the willpower to quit. Quitting is easier. While a few people have mentioned that the addiction will disappear totally whilst single, it won't: it is a fundamental part of our nature as humans. It does, however, get better. Only very occasionally will you feel the drive once you are masturbation-free for a few months and, once married (and presumably sexually active) these drives will disappear completely or become so rare as to be a much smaller issue. This is because, when you are regularly having sex, your body won't feel the urge to "relieve itself": your partner will be doing the "relieving" for you.

In the meantime, if anyone is struggling, I urge you to learn to meditate and control your mind. Then you will simply be able to "remove" inconvenient (i.e. sexual) thoughts or emotions from your mind whenever necessary. An over-the-counter drug that might help, too, is 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). It is marketed towards insomniacs, but one of its biggest side-effects is reduced sex drive. Of course, I'm in no position to assert that 5-HTP is a good idea for everyone (or even anyone, I suppose) as I'm not an expert, and you should always read the warnings, cautions, side effects etc. etc., but I have heard good things about it.