3 Bad Things that Always Happen when You Masturbate

Many say that the Bible doesn’t talk about masturbation. In a way, they are correct in the sense that it does not mention the word masturbation or overtly reference the act.

However, when you take a wider look at how the Bible addresses all types of sexual sin, it doesn’t directly talk about very many things. Instead, it talks about general categories of “sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18), “adultery in the heart” (Matthew 5:28), and things like “burning with passion” (1 Corinthians 7:9). These are categories that countless specific sexual sins fall into.

So how can we know that the Bible actually does tell us not to mess with masturbation? We know masturbation is a sin because of what the Bible says about the proper use of our sexual desires. The Bible doesn’t list every sexual sin; instead, it gives us a category for all sexual activity that is good. The Bible says the only way to properly use our sexual organs and desires is in the context of marriage (1 Corinthians 7:1-9). Thus, every sexual act that occurs without the participation of a husband and wife is considered a sexual sin according to the Scriptures. It’s really that simple.

I’ve explained the relevant Bible verses to prove this point in this article here: What Does the Bible Say About Masturbation?

Since masturbation, by definition, is when someone self-pleasures themselves without the participation of their spouse, masturbation is definitely a sin according to the Bible. But why? Why is it bad?

Here are three reasons the Bible warns us to never mess with masturbation.

1. The Bible Warns Us to Never Mess with Masturbation Because All Sexual Sin Is Selfish and Selfishness Creates Misery

God made sex as a physical act that is meant to express an inner love that a husband and wife have for each other. It’s supposed to be about giving. As the husband and wife seek to bring pleasure to the other, they end up experiencing a massive amount of pleasure themselves.

The sexual pleasure you get from seeking to pleasure your spouse in sex symbolizes the rhythm of a healthy marriage, even outside the bedroom. As the husband and wife seek to serve each other, they realize that it is better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).

Thus, since masturbation is literally a self-centered act, it promotes the opposite effect that God intended for our sexuality. That’s what sin is – it takes a good thing and uses it in a bad way. Your sexual desire is good. It’s meant to be used to show your love to the person God has chosen for you in marriage. But masturbation misuses this gift and causes you to act selfishly, which actually makes you very miserable in life. Just like a selfish spouse who seeks to be served instead of serving ruins a marriage, so too does masturbation bring misery.

As 2 Timothy 3:2 warns, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self . . .”

2. The Bible Warns Us to Never Mess with Masturbation Because Repetitive Sexual Sin Gives the Devil a Foothold in Your Life

Here’s a principle that will serve you well in life: Anything you can’t stop doing, even if you wanted to, is not good for you.

In other words, it’s always bad when something is mastering you. No matter what it is, if it is controlling you, you are in massive danger. Chronic masturbation is a sign that you are being mastered by sin (Romans 6:16). As God warned Cain before he murdered Abel, “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7).

The Bible says one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control (Galatians 5:22). When you lack control of yourself, and you can’t stop masturbating, you are not walking in the Spirit. One of the reasons masturbation is so deadly is that it degrades your self-control. It is a potent sin that manipulates powerful pleasure chemicals in your brain. Like getting hooked on a drug, masturbation becomes an addiction because you begin to crave the cheap high it easily gives you.

However, like a drug addiction, your tolerance for sexual pleasure always increases. Thus, masturbation always leads you into darker and darker sins; the more you give into sexual perversion, the more you will need darker sexual perversion to feel pleasure. Like a gateway drug, not only is masturbation a harmful sin in and of itself, but it is also so harmful because it will lead you into even worse acts as time goes on.

This is why the devil loves it when you masturbate. All repetitive sin that you don’t repent of gives him a foothold in your life (2 Timothy 3:13). And once the devil has a foothold, he will always try to take you into darker and darker places to devour you (1 Peter 5:8).

We can never stand still. We are either growing in righteousness or growing in lawlessness. As Romans 6:19 explains, “For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” In Christ, you can live free.

3. The Bible Warns Us to Never Mess with Masturbation Because It Hurts Our Sexual Intimacy with Our Spouses

If you’re unmarried and masturbating, this sexual sin is hurting you in at least two ways. First, it will keep you away from your future spouse. Masturbation always keeps people single longer than they want to be single. It creates shame, and when you feel shame, you are not going to pursue a godly spouse because you feel unprepared.

Masturbation also hurts your intimacy with your future spouse because it can create sexual problems for you once you do get married. It can cause you to need wild experiences all the time to feel any arousal. While a husband and wife will experience passionate moments, a real marriage is not a porno. If you need a fake form of sex to feel pleasure, you are setting yourself up for sexual issues in marriage.

If you’re already married but you are masturbating, this is hurting your sexual intimacy with your spouse because it is preventing them from enjoying you as God intended. Our sexual desires are meant to draw us closer to our spouses. When you relieve that desire without your spouse, your spouse will feel your lack of desire for them, which hurts the relationship.

As 1 Corinthians 7:5 states, “Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

Here’s a playlist of past videos I’ve done on this topic: What Does the Bible Say About Masturbation?