“But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” 1 Corinthians 7:8-9 NKJV
The remedy for raging teenage hormones, sexual urges, lustful thoughts and pent up sexual energy is never masturbation. This is the clear teaching of Scripture. Is masturbation a sin in the Bible? Yes.
Paul is writing here to the church at Corinth about sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 7:1-2). He says to the believers there: “Because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.” In other words, to avoid having premarital sex, a man should marry one woman, and a woman should marry one man.
But this naturally raises a question. What are single people to do with their sexual urges? What are widows to do with their sexual desires? Masturbate? No. Marry. If masturbation was a legitimate way to release sexual tension, Paul would say so. Pleasuring yourself is certainly faster and cheaper, and more convenient, and involves less commitment, than marrying someone. But self-pleasuring is not an option for a Christian.
But what if a single person or widow can’t marry? Isn’t masturbation OK then? No, it’s not, as Paul clearly says. Unmarried individuals and widows who struggle with sexual passion are to exercise self-control. They are not to masturbate—they are to exercise restraint. And if they can’t control themselves, if their sexual desires and passions are more than they can bear, they are to marry.
Is masturbation a sin in the Bible? Yes. Because there are only two biblical outlets for sexual desire. One is self-control. The other is marriage. Pick one.
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