Thursday March 6, 2003

~ Masturbation ~

I said I would not dodge the hard questions… so here’s a question that came to me. I think I would probably prefer to keep the subject matter “clean” but I think we are mature enough to handle talk about sexual matters without getting stupid. (I hope you know what I mean…)

Of course, most important, the Word!

“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. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go to hell…”

— Matthew 5:27-30 (NIV) —

I was thinking about masturbation today… (Yeah, that idea comes up more often than I’d like to admit…) And so I decided that since it makes me so darn uncomfortable, I’d like to share that uncomfortable feeling in the best way possible. ^_^ Semi-anonymously over the internet…
*chuckles evilly*

     ‘Do not commit adultery’ is Jesus pointing backwards in to the Old Testiment (then known as the Torah), the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). He likes to do this… I think that Jesus was talking to the Jews, who probably learned the Ten Commandments when they were very little… He says, look here’s what God told you back then… and let me give you the low-down. (aka God’s Commandment #7, Magnified & Amplified Version) Check it out… God told you, don’t screw your neighbor’s wife. But God really means, if you want a woman just from looking at her, you’ve already messed up. So if you think that not screwing that girl next door that’s such a hottie is enough… think again! Just watching all the parts that jiggle, bounce, bend, twist, …etc is WRONG! DOH!
    
     And in case that isn’t enough of a kick in the head… Jesus goes on… If you keep screwing up, just rip your eye out and chop off your hand. Goodness… whew… Jesus says, it’s better for you to be maimed in this life, than to have this sin keep you out of heaven. Imagine that… a guy minus an eye (tore it out himself) and minus a hand (chopped it off himself)… Regardless of whether you take this as figurative or literal, it still paints a very gory picture. And Jesus said it’s BETTER to be this way than lusting! That leaves me wordless… (And brings up ideas of what is the real difference between [Jesus] Christian values and worldly values) Yes, brothers. God is serious. Don’t look at those things that jiggle, bend and twist on a woman. Don’t glare at me like that… Jesus said it, so Bring it up with HIM!
     
     Which brings me full circle back to the original title. Masturbation. I think it’s bad. Is it a sin? I don’t know… I have never been able to do it without lustful thoughts. <insert some comments about Porn, Hentai, Ecchi, Sex stories, playboy, hustler, penthouse, maxim, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition here> Yeah… you get the idea </insert> So it’s definitely a sin for me. Praise God for bringing me out of it. Much to my heavenly Father. I’ve been clean for over 3 months now… God-willing and my stupidity nonwithstanding, I’ll steer clear of the temptation of lust. Staying away from women is a whole other story… *chuckles* By the way, I put up an alias of Sammy because of this particular weakness. Samson, I feel ya man… Delilah…must’ve been quite the babe…
    
     God, thank You for all these supportive brothers and sisters. All because, You loved us first. ONLY after we realize this can we fully love others. Work is good, hard, but good. I’d like to pray for the pastor of Trinity, pray that You will give him a good expositional sermon and let Your Word spill forth from his lips. To give life, to give spiritual food to the sheep of Your flock. Fill him with the Spirit, because the burden on those who lead is great… for those who lead, must serve, as Jesus showed us.
     Thank you for speaking to me, even though I have not opened the bible since last sunday. I feel so spiritually malnurished… why do I do these things? I know I need the food of the spirit… and yet, I don’t follow the shepherd until the hunger pangs get too strong and I’m weak with hunger… Lord, you are my shepard, I shall not WANT. Please help me learn how to do this AGAIN. For you guide the foolish and make fools of the wise… so let me be Your fool. I pray that you will let me be an instrument of Your will… one day at a time… Until the day comes when the work is done. When Your Son comes again… till then, let me be a tool to bring Your Will to be done on earth, Lord. I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.