Let’s start at the beginning of mankind. The Bible teaches that Adam and Eve were the original parents of the human race. (Genesis 2 :21-24). Before sin, everything was “very good” based on Genesis 1:31, “And God saw everything that he had made and behold it, was very good.” Sadly, sin entered into this world, which brought an ugly reality — masturbation.
Masturbation normally means “self-abuse.” Also referred to as “secret vice”. It is the self-stimulation of the genitals or other sensitive areas of the body to achieve sexual arousal and pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm (sexual climax).
Self abuse is not confined to any one class of society; is not a respecter of persons; it penetrates all classes. Surprisingly, it starts in the cradle. Those, whose social surroundings have been such that they would be least suspected, are frequently found to be among its most abject victims. Too little attention has been given to this matter.
The practice of masturbation is often exploited by the medical community which have taken the position that the prevalence of the vice has been greatly exaggerated as well as its bad effects and there are many documented health benefits. This has had a tendency to lull to sleep parents who might otherwise have realized the dangers with which their children were threatened. Among older adults, this allows them to justify their actions that self-abuse is not immoral or wrong, and self-pleasure is not shameful.
In our fallen human nature, we tend to misappropriate any information, including masturbation, and use it for destruction. Romans 7: 21 states, “I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.” If we don’t see the truth about our human nature, how can we realistically understand the sexual aspect of our nature? Parents ought to inform themselves on this subject so that they may be prepared to rescue those who may have become enslaved, and protect those whose innocence has not yet been marred.
In this brazen world, many do not or claim not to understand God’s will so they are involved in the pollution and destruction of their body from sexual sins. Hence, they violate the 7th commandment and disregard 1 Corinthians 6:18: “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.” Many of the young people, Generation X, millennial etc. think its nothing wrong with violating their bodies. How can they change and learn to trust in God, if they are not taught?
1 Corinthians 6:19 say, “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and you are not your own?” Jesus, purchased all of our bodies at the price of His precious blood, and calls us to be sexually pure. He owns our bodies. We are not our own. He has the right to expect purity because our bodies belong to Him. So let us glorify God in our bodies as spoken in 1 Corinthians 6:20.
Even though Christ has the right of ownership to our bodies, He asks us to offer our bodies freely to be a living sacrifice, holy unto Him. (Romans 12:1). If we make that choice and respect Jesus’ right to our bodies, then the question is not longer, “What do I want to do with my body?” But “What does Jesus want to do with my body?”
Below is sound counsel from an inspired prolific writer. These words unveil the ugly reality of this sinful practice:
“Self-abuse is, probably, the most flagrant violation of the sexual law; the grossest abuse of the sexual function; and it is a practice fraught with the most disastrous consequences to the health, happiness, and even life of the race. It is an evil even more damning than any other to which mankind is subject! Language supplies to words sufficiently strong to express the horrors which result from it! And surely if the evil one, in tempting our first parents, had foreseen that this practice would have been the result of the passions he aroused, he must have been more than satisfied with his ignoble work.
Self-abuse is practiced in almost every country, and by persons of all ages and both sexes. Many children are born with this propensity, and the habit is commenced in infancy, or in early childhood, by handling the genital organs; the friction and irritation giving rise to a peculiar kind of excitement which they are unable to resist. The habit formed at this early age is usually kept up till after puberty, if the system does not earlier succumb to its ill effects. The little, puny, sickly, dwarfed, and diminutive men-and-women-looking children that we sometimes see are many of them examples of this habit.
Others who have escaped the vice at so early an age are often initiated into the practice of self-pollution at the age of eight or ten by their playmates, their school-fellows, or by hired servants; and all this without a thought of evil on the part of the little masturbators.
Those who have neither inherited the vice nor learned it from others, often commence the habit of self-abuse about the age of puberty when the development of the sexual organs and the establishment of the sexual function produce a peculiar uneasiness of the parts, to allay which, this habit is at first almost unconsciously fallen into.”
E.G. White, A Solemn Appeal, pp. 84-86
This picture, full of horrors as it is, is not overdrawn; in truth ‘the half hath not been told;’ nor would volumes contain all that might be said, all that should be said, upon this terrible and revolting evil. Sometimes people try to convince themselves that sex abuse is acceptable, if they are the only participant and not involving any one else. This is not true. Truly, there is no more degrading bondage than the bondage of one’s own lusts.
Aside from positive evidence of masturbation, what are the signs which may give rise to suspicion, with parents, which may lead to the discovery of positive evidence that their child(ren) are participating in this secret vice. The signs may be enumerated as follows:
- A sudden, marked decline in health.
- A marked change in disposition is frequently the result of this same cause.
- Loss of memory and of the love for study is a very frequent result of this enervating habit.
- The nervous forces are weakened and the vitality lowered to such.
- A degree that the natural energy and vivacity are destroyed, giving place to mental weakness and inactivity.
- A forward or loose manner in company with the opposite sex.
- An unnatural appetite.
The causes vary; however, the following may surprise many to be a culprit:
Causes:
- Inherited disposition for excitement or greater sensitivity to nerves (sexual).
- Curiosity
- Improper dressing of infants
- Eating stimulating foods i.e. spicy, vinegar type, etc.
- Environmental factors i.e., media, music, images, conversations that may be suggestive
The habit of self abuse is one which when thoroughly established is by no means easily broken. The victim of
this most terrible vice is held in the most abject slavery, the iron fetters of habit daily closing the prisoner more and more tightly in their grasp.
Reform is not impossible, however, for any one who really desires to reform; but the work of reformation must begin with the mind. The impure thoughts and images, which have been harbored, must be banished. The mind must be cleansed from every taint of evil. This is a task which requires no little patience, and in many cases, more than human strength. In seeking to reform such an one, point them to God of all strength, encourage her to believe that there is One who knows the weaknesses of human nature, and while He abhors sin and vileness, loves the sinner and is ready and anxious to aid her to release herself from the toils of vice.
On the practical side, here are some invaluable guidelines:
Remedy:
- Keep diet simple and nourishing. Eat plenty of fruit, nuts, grains, and vegetables.
- Avoid stimulating foods (spicy, condiments i.e. ketchup, mustard, peppers, vinegar type foods i.e. pickles, etc.,)
- Be mindful of environment (music, television, videos that may be suggestive, magazines, etc.)
- Ensure child spends more time outdoors in nature (observing plants, flowers, trees, etc.)
- Watch child’s relationship around family, friends.
- If child uses hands, constantly and vigilantly redirect, in love, while teaching her what God wants.
- Remove items girl can rub against. (Girls genitals have plenty of nerve endings and sensations, even as infants.)
- Stay prayerful and submit this situation to the commands of God
Father, please forgive your people for turning pastures into deserts, lakes into swamps, and people into slaves. We have God’s promises to overcome sexual sins: “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?”
If you are a prisoner to this secret vice, TALK TO GOD. Tell Him your desire to love and obey Him; you need Him in your life more than ever; and that you cannot do this on your own, realizing your need of His help. In submitting to the power of God you can overcome this vice. Hold on to God’s promise of “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13 VICTORY OVER ANY ADDICTION IS A GIFT. “B ut thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Corinthians 15:57.