Spirituality And Masturbation

A Christian has every reason to strive for a sense of comfort with nonsinful sexual behaviors, even those that do not involve a partner.  Doing so reflects a genuine desire to celebrate the fact that each person is free to live as they please as long as they are not violating any of the moral obligations rooted in God's character.  As such, an act of sexual pleasure like masturbation can be celebrated not in spite of commitment to Christianity, but because of it.  Masturbation is not divorced from Christian spirituality or the individualistic psychological characteristics of the person engaged in it; no aspect of life is, but this is especially true in the case of masturbation because it is a sexual act that reflects something of a person's worldview and personality.

Sexual self-stimulation can be an act of spiritual expression and even gratefulness for the that the Christian God intended for sexuality to be a pleasurable, significant part of human life--for both spouses and singles.  Sexuality is not a result of sin, but an integral part of human nature that can be indulged in by those of any relationship status without sin.  Whether someone is married, engaged, or single, they are capable of expressing their spirituality and sexuality simultaneously.  There is nothing about either that conflicts with the other.

There is no thus reason to fear masturbation when the Biblical God so clearly permits it [1], and self-pleasuring has potential for far more than immediate pleasure.  Because sexuality is highly phenomenological and because it was and created by God, it is therefore directly connected to human spirituality (consciousness is the spirit/soul that is emphasized in spirituality), meaning it has a special relationship with the moral and theological aspects of human life.  It is not an act that is antithetical to a sincere commitment to God, and it does not elevate pleasure to a hedonistic status.

For this reason, pleasuring one's own genitalia, contrary to what many Christians might believe or be willing to admit, can be a thoroughly spiritual experience that entails a respect for God and the body he created.  There are possible ways to misuse masturbation, such as masturbating to sensual images or videos of the opposite gender while reducing the individuals therein to nothing but their sex appeal (only reducing someone solely to their sex appeal or other sexual dimensions is objectification, and masturbating to imagery is not sinful in itself), but it is a theologically positive act when not misused.

Savoring the sexual functionality of one's body, the pleasure of innocent sexual expression, and the introspective depth of masturbation [2] is far from spiritually useless.  Nonsinful uses of one's body and mind cannot dishonor the God who fashioned them with the capacity for self-inflicted sexual pleasure, after all!  Instead of feeling guilt or spiritual disconnection during masturbation, Christians who practice self-pleasuring can fully embrace masturbation with intentional emphasis on the spiritual potential of sexual self-stimulation.  Nonsinful sexual practices are worth celebrating as Biblically legitimate and spiritually freeing even if one does not personally engage in them.


[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/07/sexual-self-stimulation.html

[2].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-introspective-potential-of.html