Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 1/19/2007

Question
my problem is i can't stop masturbating . . . i only do it because of the pleasure it gives after ejaculating, but after i feel so guilty, i can't stop looking at porn and i'm 14. i feel so horrible about this and i don't know what to do.no matter how hard i try, i always do it, at least once a day... what can i do about this?

Answer
Hi Joseph,

Thank you for this very personal question.  Here is what we know from the Bible:

1.  Masturbation and sexual fantasy is a sin because it is sex outside the bonds of marriage.

Matthew 5:28
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Hebrews 13:4
4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

2.  Pornography can act just like other addictions.  It stimulates the same neuron responses that chemical addictions do.  The Battle then is for the mind.  You must use the weapons of reading the Bible, prayer, and fellowship with believers to force out the bad stuff and replace it with good stuff.

Romans 12:2
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;  
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

3.  Make it hard to sin.  If you are stumbling on the internet, get a filter like cleaninter.net.  You cannot over ride that filter with a password, they controll content and you cannot cheat.

Romans 13:14
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

4.  Find a believer with whom you can be accountable regarding this sin.  Find an older Christian man that you trust and have him ask you how you are doing.  Be able to call him if you are having a particularly hard struggle.

Hebrews 10:24-25
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

These simple steps will help you in this battle.

I hope that this helps you.

In Christ
Pastor Don
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.