is it a sin?

[Pfaffenhoffen]

If certain actions pose grave danger to the souls of millions, all those strong in their faith should never hesitate to speak out against those things.

There are millions of people and millions of actions.
First ´Things first.
Once a doctor in Law asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment.
Jesus said the Shemah: (שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל‎; “Hear, [O] Israel”), The Lord God is YOur Lord, You will love with your Heart, with all your Soul, with all your being.

And Jesus added: “Love your neigbor as yourself”.

In the end of life, Jesus said: “I give you a NEW commandment: love each other as I loved You”.

Let’s not run away from sins. There is a better way.

Let’s run towards God and love our neighbor as Jesus taught us.

 

[JRKH]

There are millions of people and millions of actions.
First ´Things first.
Once a doctor in Law asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment.
Jesus said the Shemah: (שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל‎; “Hear, [O] Israel”), The Lord God is YOur Lord, You will love with your Heart, with all your Soul, with all your being.

And Jesus added: “Love your neigbor as yourself”.

In the end of life, Jesus said: “I give you a NEW commandment: love each other as I loved You”.

Let’s not run away from sins. There is a better way.

Let’s run towards God and love our neighbor as Jesus taught us.

Amen Amen Amen…

 

[Trebor135]

There are millions of people and millions of actions.
First ´Things first.
Once a doctor in Law asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment.
Jesus said the Shemah: (שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל‎; “Hear, [O] Israel”), The Lord God is YOur Lord, You will love with your Heart, with all your Soul, with all your being.

And Jesus added: “Love your neigbor as yourself”.

In the end of life, Jesus said: “I give you a NEW commandment: love each other as I loved You”.

Let’s not run away from sins. There is a better way.

Let’s run towards God and love our neighbor as Jesus taught us.

No disagreement there.

Remember, Jesus told us in Matthew chapter five:

[27] “You have heard that it was said, `You shall not commit adultery.’
[28] But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
[29] If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
[30] And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

No disagreement there.

Remember, Jesus told us in Matthew chapter five:

[27] “You have heard that it was said, `You shall not commit adultery.’
[28] But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
[29] If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
[30] And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

No disagreement on what you said.
But when asked, Jesus said that the First Commandment was … bla bla bla…
Now, let us progress in the discussion:
Are we giving emphasis to the First? Are we putting the first as first and the 10th as 10th? The Foruns here show that the First commandment is more debated than the 10th?

 

[Joseph6279]

If something is a sin it is contrary to the two greatest commandments to love God, and love neighbor. It is a nice thing to say “don’t run away from sin, but run to God” but the two are two sides to the same coin: if you run to God, you will run away from sin/if you are running away from sin, then you are running to God.

To overcome sin I would say one needs to have focus on Him (prayer, sacraments, holy reading etc.), but one also needs to root out the various things that are obstacles in one’s relationship with him.

 

[JRKH]

If something is a sin it is contrary to the two greatest commandments to love God, and love neighbor. It is a nice thing to say "don’t run away from sin, but run to God" but the two are two sides to the same coin: if you run to God, you will run away from sin/if you are running away from sin, then you are running to God.

(Bolding Mine)

Joseph,
In reference to the bolded section…This may be true in some cases but not necessarily in all. Much depends on one’s understanding of “sin”.
The most commonly used Greek term that is generally translated as “Sin” is:
Hamartano
To be without a share in; to miss the mark; to err, be mistaken; to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honor; to do or go wrong; to wander from the law of God, violate God’s law, sin.

Likewise in Hebrew the term translated as “sin” is
Chata’
to sin, miss, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt, forfeit, purify from uncleanness

The thing to note in these is the idea of being “mistaken”, to “miss the way”, to “err”…Not necessarily to “run away from” doing wrong…
The Atheist can easily claim to “run away from sin” because he does not kill or steal or covet or whatever…and treats others with respect and even love.
However - his “running away from sin” does not equate to running “toward God”. Hence they are not necessarily two sides of the same coin. One can “run from sin” and also “run from God”…
Of course one could say that running from God is, in itself sin, which is a whole other rabbit trail that we could run down…:whacky:

To overcome sin I would say one needs to have focus on Him (prayer, sacraments, holy reading etc.), but one also needs to root out the various things that are obstacles in one’s relationship with him.
Totally agree with this.
Proper focus on God (who is Love) is the greatest defense against sin -error - large or small.

Peace
James

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Watching porn will stick in your head for the rest of your life. Stop doing it NOW. Stop putting sexual acts in front of your eyes and you will have less desire to touch your private parts and give yourself orgasms. Save that for your future husband. Yes, it is sin and you know it is sin. You are supposed to experience that sort of pleasure with your husband, not all by yourself. Get the porn out of your life, get some self-control, get away from whatever gives you the desire to masturbate. Stop now while you can still change things!

 

[Trebor135]

No disagreement on what you said.

But when asked, Jesus said that the First Commandment was … bla bla bla…

Indeed.

Now, let us progress in the discussion:
Are we giving emphasis to the First? Are we putting the first as first and the 10th as 10th? The Foruns here show that the First commandment is more debated than the 10th?

Actually, in my experience, I have found that God’s love is overemphasized while his justice is underemphasized. We must always seek to find a balance between the two sides of the coin. God is merciful and forgiving, but toward the sincere and repentant. He is, however, punitive and wrathful against the prideful and stubborn. May he preserve and protect us all.

Both Joseph and James have written good posts.

 

[itullian]

Mathew chapter5, 28 says

“he who looks at a woman with lust has committed adultery with her IN HIS HEART.”

NOT has committed adultery. its a prelude and not nearly as bad as actually committing the act.

 

[Trebor135]

Mathew chapter5, 28 says

“he who looks at a woman with lust has committed adultery with her IN HIS HEART.”

NOT has committed adultery. its a prelude and not nearly as bad as actually committing the act.

But Jesus was making a parallel between the Old Testament Mosaic law and the New Testament law of love: the latter raises the former to a higher level. “You shall not commit adultery” is just as worthy of assent and implementation as “[You shall not look] at a woman lustfully”.

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

Indeed.

Actually, in my experience, I have found that God’s love is overemphasized while his justice is underemphasized. We must always seek to find a balance between the two sides of the coin. God is merciful and forgiving, but toward the sincere and repentant. He is, however, punitive and wrathful against the prideful and stubborn. May he preserve and protect us all.

Both Joseph and James have written good posts.

I agree. People tend to think that God has no saying into Man’s affairs. That God does not give orders. That God does not have a will and a plan and an objective for this world.

People tend to pray: “My will be done” and not “Thy will be done”.

People tend to like more the “sweet, my sweet Jesus”, “come to my heart”, and “Jesus is with me, I can to whatever i want…” mentality.

And I do not escape from this sin. I Would not say Justice, but to do God’s will, as Jesus said: “My food is to do the will of My Father”.

You are right on giving emphasis to that…

 

[Marybeloved]

Mathew chapter5, 28 says

“he who looks at a woman with lust has committed adultery with her IN HIS HEART.”

NOT has committed adultery. its a prelude and not nearly as bad as actually committing the act.

You’re contradicting the plain words of the passage- “HAS committed adultery with her in his heart”- The Law of God says NOT to commit adultery. Doing it in your heart or body is still committing mortal sin because Jesus our Lord has already told us that even those in the heart are still ADULTERY!

@OP
While you may not have known before coming here that musturbation is a mortal sin, now you do. Choosing to do it again after this without anyone forcing you when you could have simply avoided it by NOT putting yourself in that occassion in the first place (Don’t be idle, keep yourself busy with healthy fruitful pursuits and certainly don’t watch poronography- Even if you don’t masturbate afterward, just the watching pornography by itself and engaging sexual fantasies is already mortal sin!) and yet you did not do that, then it would be mortal sin. Don’t just tell yourself it’s "venial’ because it’s a habit and presume to pray and then go to communion- go to confession first!! Sacrilege is even worse than lust- Don’t risk sacrilege and blaspheming Our Lord in the Eucharist by doing what the Church clearly teaches is always grave matter without any one or anything “forcing you” and then just availing yourself for communion after a simple prayer.

Also advice: Take every pornographic material you have and burn it, destroy it so that no one else will see it (Love others as yourself). As to the internet, if you can’t go on it without visiting those sites then limit as much as possible the time you spend on it. Every time the suggestion to sin sexually in thought or body comes to you, just say a Hail Mary. At the end of it, the thought will have passed, if the thoughts and feelings are especially strong, do a decade of the Rosary (especially the sorrowful mysteries) or the whole Rosary if need be and fix your mind on the person you’re speaking to (God and his mother) on what you’re saying to them (the meaning of the prayers) and what they are trying to teach you (The mysteries of the Rosary)- Do this and there simply will be no room for the sin. The Saints tell us that when the devil notices that every occasion of tempting you leads you to pray more and to cling to God more, he leaves! You see, he does not want to anyone to become Holy!

Watching Porn is not only sinful, it’s disastrous- Those pictures will stay with you even long after you’ve changed your life and are living for God, Will be very annoying and provide fodder to the devil to tempt you in future. But if you stop and pray seriously (especially develop a strong devotion to the Mother of God, say the Rosary and consecrate yourself to her or her immaculate heart) I promise you that the masturbation, pornography and impure thoughts will go away one day. At some point, you will find that you are not yielding to them any more- They come but you’re able to say “no” and they leave, and then one day, the root attachment will be
broken and it’ll not even be a temptation at all- You yourself will have been changed and you will find that your own natural inclination is away from lust and all for the right thing in this area, the right manner of looking and seeing yourself and your fellow beings in this area as God wills and a natural repulsion to the those things. More than this, you’ll find that your struggle has yielded many spiritual fruits for you that will stay with you through eternity. God Bless you-

 

[itullian]

sorry,it doesn’t say,

he who has lusted after a woman has already committed adultery.

it says “in his heart”.

it maybe a mortal sin but there’s a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig difference
if your spouse looks lustily at another or actually has an affair with them.

if you cannot see the difference that’s sad.

 

[Trebor135]

I agree. People tend to think that God has no saying into Man’s affairs. That God does not give orders. That God does not have a will and a plan and an objective for this world.

People tend to pray: “My will be done” and not “Thy will be done”.

People tend to like more the “sweet, my sweet Jesus”, “come to my heart”, and “Jesus is with me, I can to whatever i want…” mentality.

And I do not escape from this sin. I Would not say Justice, but to do God’s will, as Jesus said: “My food is to do the will of My Father”.

You are right on giving emphasis to that…

Splendid post, Pfaffenhoffen. We don’t disagree after all–something I am always glad to see.

Good night and God bless.

 

[Trebor135]

sorry,it doesn’t say,

he who has lusted after a woman has already committed adultery.

it says “in his heart”.

it maybe a mortal sin but there’s a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig difference
if your spouse looks lustily at another or actually has an affair with them.

if you cannot see the difference that’s sad.

We can’t separate our body and soul–they’re equally important. To pit them one against the other would be a borrowing from Dualism/Gnosticism.

But as long as we agree that grave sin–which means “Time to go to confession!”–is involved, we’re basically on the same page.

 

[Marybeloved]

sorry,it doesn’t say,

he who has lusted after a woman has already committed adultery.

it says “in his heart”.

it maybe a mortal sin but there’s a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig difference
if your spouse looks lustily at another or actually has an affair with them.

if you cannot see the difference that’s sad.

The commandment says “Thou shall not COMMIT ADULTERY” Not “Physically commit adultery”.

Christ says “he who lusts…HAS COMMITTED ADULTERY IN HIS HEART”

Why do you care whether it’s in the heart or the body? It’s still COMMITTING ADULTERY! per Jesus’ words:shrug:.The commandment never once said how, where, when the commission of adultery counts- Just the commission of the adultery alone- I don’t see where it says “Thou shall not commit adultery in thy body or with they body” It just stops at committing adultery- period. Unless you think Jesus was wrong in counting lust as committing adultery, your arguments make no sense- Jesus tells us lust is committing adultery in the heart- Still committing adultery, and still a violation of the divine commandment, because the commandment forbids the commission of adultery period- not just its physical manifestations.

 

[itullian]

The commandment says “Thou shall not COMMIT ADULTERY” Not “Physically commit adultery”.

Christ says “he who lusts…HAS COMMITTED ADULTERY IN HIS HEART”

Why do you care whether it’s in the heart or the body? It’s still COMMITTING ADULTERY! per Jesus’ words:shrug:.The commandment never once said how, where, when the commission of adultery counts- Just the commission of the adultery alone- I don’t see where it says “Thou shall not commit adultery in thy body or with they body” It just stops at committing adultery- period. Unless you think Jesus was wrong in counting lust as committing adultery, your arguments make no sense- Jesus tells us lust is committing adultery in the heart- Still committing adultery, and still a violation of the divine commandment, because the commandment forbids the commission of adultery period- not just its physical manifestations.

so God counts it against you equally if you look or if you do the act? come on

 

[Marybeloved]

We can’t separate our body and soul–they’re equally important. To pit them one against the other would be a borrowing from Dualism/Gnosticism.

But as long as we agree that grave sin–which means “Time to go to confession!”–is involved, we’re basically on the same page.

Exactly! And the sin of lust in all forms, physical and mental, is the objectification of our fellow man whom God loves for his own sake- Whose value is the death of God on a cross. Our Lord does not want us to tun any one into a tool for our pleasure, mental or physical, and he said what he said because he does not want us to kid ourselves that only physical manifestations of evil are evil- The evil is in our heart (For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks- He also said not to worry about what we eat which cannot corrupt, but what comes out of our hearts which is what corrupts).The very failure to love that occurs in the secrecy of your heart when you lust, hate, etc is already the evil which will give birth to the physical action. Christ does not want us to be like the Pharisees who wash the outside of the cup and leave the inside rotting. A person may never physically do the evil and still go Hell and we wonder why, because it was all show- underneath, unknown to others and known only to God, he was always committing evil in his heart always rejecting God and his grace, always hating and failing to love his fellow men, always worshiping himself. The Heart, in the Gospel of Jesus, is VERY important!

 

[itullian]

so if i think"i’d like to kill that guy"

or if i go there and kill him, it’s the same?

if i committ adultery in my heart i can confess it and no one’s hurt.

if i REALLY commit adultery many can be hurt.and it manifests MUCH less control and respect than just thinking.

in your heart you know i’m right.

 

[Marybeloved]

so God counts it against you equally if you look or if you do the act? come on

No, you come on!

Our human wisdom is nothing, God’s wisdom is everything! God counts it as mortal sin if you willfully look at others with lust, knowing how seriously he takes it. The sin is in the objectification of others, converting them into tools for your pleasure, whether you do it in the secrecy of your heart where only God sees it or act it out in the open. The heart of it is in the devaluation of one that’s got immeasurable worth in himself in God’s eyes. That’s the sin of lust- not just physically dong things you’re not supposed to do. All sin is more or less serious depending on how much it harms Charity- Love. Some is obvious to us by use of reason, some not- but Christ has made it clear to us that lust and hate of others is always seriously contrary to charity whether we do it in the heart or in the body.