Walking in Lust or Walking in the Spirit

 

We live in a culture that is saturated with lust. It seems everywhere we look we are inundated with images, songs and videos that are either explicitly sexual or are heavy with innuendo. It is like we cannot even tell a joke these days without making it into something sexual.

This makes for a challenging environment for those of us who are committed to following the Lord with all our hearts.

I have been a Christ follower from when I was a child, and since puberty fired my veins with sexual desire, controlling lust has been a daily challenge. One area of difficulty for me has always been masturbation. There have been a couple periods in my life when I resigned myself to thinking that there was nothing really wrong with masturbation, but for most of my life, I have believed that it was wrong and have fought to control it.

In the previous post we looked at the connection between masturbation and fantasy. We saw that if we are indulging in lust in our hearts, even if we are not using pornography, Jesus said that we are committing adultery in our hearts. We cannot entertain illicit fantasies and maintain a pure heart before God.

But what about if we somehow manage to masturbate without indulging in fantasy? If we are able to clear our minds and just enjoy the physical sensations?

This does make it more of a thorny of an issue. I would say 99% of the time when we masturbate this is not the case. Mental images and masturbation go hand in hand. If we are masturbating, even if we don't want those images to be there, they come up. It is part of our mind-body connection. For example, when I smell coffee, I am often reminded of my grandparents, because it was at their house that I first smelled coffee when I was a child. The sensation of smelling coffee recalls certain memories automatically without any effort on my part. Fantasy and masturbation operate in a similar fashion, even if we don't want the unclean memories or fantasies to come to mind, the act of masturbation invites them to return. I think with time and effort we can get away from those thoughts, but if our goal is to keep our hearts and minds pure, masturbation is doing nothing to help us with that process.

But let's say, for sake of argument, we are able to get to the place where there are no unclean thoughts at all associated with masturbation and it is just a purely physical act. There is another question we need to answer, is it possible to masturbate without lust?

When I use lust here, I am thinking of an unlawful, sexual desire. I do not think that strong sexual desire in and of itself is a bad thing, rather, it is a good thing. It is a gift from God meant to draw us into relationship and procreation which are both blessings from God. The problem comes when that desire becomes illicit or unlawful, when we look to satisfy those desires outside of God's purposes and plans for our lives.

Paul has some great, Spirit-guided insights for us in his letters, "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof."(Romans 13:14) Paul is drawing a line here between Christ and our fleshy lusts. We are either fulfilling the lusts of our flesh, or we are following after Christ. When I read "provision" here, I think of supplies, like somebody might put into his backpack before a hiking trip. Provision gives energy and strength to something. What Paul would challenge us to ask ourselves then is, does masturbation give provision to the flesh or does it give provision to Christ?

Paul goes further in Galatians 5:16-21, "This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

Paul hits many nails on the head with this comprehensive list of what can constitute lustful behavior. Noticeably, masturbation is not mentioned, but I see three categories where it can possibly fit: uncleanness, lasciviousness, and then Paul throws in this catch-all category, "such like."  I think it is safe to say that masturbation is an example of the lust of the flesh. Paul knew that there would be many who are more "letter of the law" than "spirit of the law" and so he threw in that "such like" to make sure that none of us could excuse our lustful behaviors.

This list describing the lust of the flesh is then contrasted with the fruit of the Spirit, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." (5:22-24)

Here is another question we should ask ourselves, which list does masturbation more easily fit into? The list of fleshly lust? Or the list of the fruit of the Spirit? Does masturbation help us grow in love, joy, and peace? I would argue that it does not. This is a decision and habit that each of has to decide on his or her own. In his book on sex addiction, Surfing for God, Michael John Cusick writes, "More often than not, when men masturbate, they cut off or detach from their souls. After the immediate ecstasy and release of tension, they experience a weakened sense of strength for having spent themselves. This occurs not only at the physical level, but on the emotional and spiritual level as well."  I have certainly felt this for myself. If I am habitually masturbating, I lose that joy and peace that I have when I am walking close to the Lord. For me, that is more than enough reason to strive to control myself in this area. If we are walking in the Spirit, I believe that he will be leading us away from lust and masturbation and into self-control and genuine love for ourselves and others.