Masturbation - HELP

[Liberality]

Hello, I’m currently 13 years old.

I’ve recently started to… well… “spill the seed (used in another thread, sorry for having to use this or copy it.)”. I started doing it this Saturday, and well the feeling was great. I keep on having urges to. So far I’ve done it each day and I can’t stop. People told me, via internet it has to do with regards to hormones and puberty and the sexual urges are hard to go by during this pubescent period. I heard in religion class it isn’t supported by the Catholic Church with doesn’t really explain much on regards to whether masturbation is considered a sin or not. But for all means I’m currently not using any pornography or having thoughts of “lust” running through my head. Just the feeling is I guess what I’m aiming for.

I don’t want this to turn into a habit at all, and I keep praying to God and telling my self that I’ll try to make a covenant with God and promise to never do it again. In other words, I need your help, will this “addiction” eventually stop? Is it just because of puberty? is it because of my hormones? and most of all, is it considered a sin?

Thank you.

• Liberality.

 

[zinger90]

While I do not know the specific verses to show that it is sinful, I do have a general idea of why the Church teaches that it is. most of this knowledge comes from Theology of the Body. Sex is a sacred thing reserved for marriage, it is a beautiful gift from God that is a uniting and procreative act but when a person masterbates they are cutting out both of these things. Who are you being united to? no one. is the act open to life? no. It is also using the sexual organs improperly. (this is also why contraception is not good, just dont have sex until marriage and you wont have to worry about that)

But dont beat yourself up too bad about it, just go to confession and resolve to try to stop. It is a struggle. I’ve been struggling with it for 7 years now (I started at about your age) There is no “quick fix” solution to the addiction and it wont go away on its own, but you can work to get rid of it. It is good that you are catching it early, the longer you go before you start trying to get rid of it, the harder it is to get rid of.

One of the best stategies I’ve found is that when you feel tempted do something that takes a lot of energy (go for a run, do as many push ups as you can, etc) or call a friend and talk about anything. Basically distract yourself and you will forget about the urges.

 

[lauraabarlow]

I myself used to struggle with this-I can relate with this. I know it’s wrong and continuously struggled with this and going to confession (with the same confessor) and eventually the urges went away. I believe that humbly going to confession and prayers healed me of this. I am not the one that has answers but my advice to you is to go to confession and if possible, go to the same confessor and humbly let him know that you are struggling with this issue-to seek his adv ice and follow through. I am not saying that I don’t still have temptations at times but far and few in between-nothing to give in to, though. And keep seeking deliverance from this sin problem through prayers, too. Your confessor will advise you on this-hang in there-God loves you!!

 

[Liberality]

While I do not know the specific verses to show that it is sinful, I do have a general idea of why the Church teaches that it is. most of this knowledge comes from Theology of the Body. Sex is a sacred thing reserved for marriage, it is a beautiful gift from God that is a uniting and procreative act but when a person masterbates they are cutting out both of these things. Who are you being united to? no one. is the act open to life? no. It is also using the sexual organs improperly. (this is also why contraception is not good, just dont have sex until marriage and you wont have to worry about that)

But dont beat yourself up too bad about it, just go to confession and resolve to try to stop. It is a struggle. I’ve been struggling with it for 7 years now (I started at about your age) There is no “quick fix” solution to the addiction and it wont go away on its own, but you can work to get rid of it. It is good that you are catching it early, the longer you go before you start trying to get rid of it, the harder it is to get rid of.

One of the best stategies I’ve found is that when you feel tempted do something that takes a lot of energy (go for a run, do as many push ups as you can, etc) or call a friend and talk about anything. Basically distract yourself and you will forget about the urges.

Thanks for your reply on regards to my problem. I really appreciate it, I’m looking into doing the things you suggested I do. I’ve done some research on regards to “hormones” and a majority say its “hormones kicking in” or comments like that. I’m trying to stay abstinent and stop on regards to masturbation.

 

[JABA]

A good way to help yourself from falling into this sin, is to gain self control. Once you have gained this self control, the hard part is over. You have to convince yourself that masturbation is a very disgusting and unnatural practice and very unsatisfying. You have to prove to yourself that you are strong minded and will not fall for this type of temptation. Also, remember that you are never alone and that God is watching you all the time. You would not to do this practice if your parents would be watching you. The same, you would not do it, as God is watching you.

I found that these things helped me the most.

 

[copperblade]

I started doing it this Saturday, and well the feeling was great. I keep on having urges to. So far I’ve done it each day and I can’t stop. People told me, via internet it has to do with regards to hormones and puberty and the sexual urges are hard to go by during this pubescent period.

Yes, at your age especially it’s pretty typical. Testosterone plays a huge role in this, but it won’t start to wane off for at the very minimum another 10 years, probably more like 15 - 20.

I heard in religion class it isn’t supported by the Catholic Church with doesn’t really explain much on regards to whether masturbation is considered a sin or not.

It’s considered sinful, but at your age you should just be doing your best to avoid it without obsessing over it.

I don’t want this to turn into a habit at all, and I keep praying to God and telling my self that I’ll try to make a covenant with God and promise to never do it again. In other words, I need your help, will this “addiction” eventually stop? Is it just because of puberty? is it because of my hormones? and most of all, is it considered a sin?

Yes, it’s because of your hormones, at least in very large part. Just promise God you will try your best to never do it again, because at this age a lot of it is you being under the influence of a drug (your testosterone). And that’s exactly where you should leave it: realize you’re probably going to do it sometimes, you should try not to, avoid tools that help you like porn, and then just get on with your life. God may want you to feel sorry to a certain extent, but He doesn’t want you obsessed over it.

Also it’s worth pointing out that whenever we get into a situation where we’re preoccupied with not doing something, we have the tendency to do it more. If you keep telling yourself, “I’m not going to eat at McDonald’s” over and over, chances are you’ll eat at McDonald’s more often than if you just thought about something else. You have to find the appropriate humble response to your situation, and it doesn’t involve falling into despair. It means truly assessing what’s going on and understanding the role you should play: just try not to.

 

[Liberality]

A good way to help yourself from falling into this sin, is to gain self control. Once you have gained this self control, the hard part is over. You have to convince yourself that masturbation is a very disgusting and unnatural practice and very unsatisfying. You have to prove to yourself that you are strong minded and will not fall for this type of temptation. Also, remember that you are never alone and that God is watching you all the time. You would not to do this practice if your parents would be watching you. The same, you would not do it, as God is watching you.

I found that these things helped me the most.

Thanks for the reply. I’m going to be using that thought of “You would not to do this practice if your parents would be watching you. The same, you would not do it, as God is watching you”, since after all, God is like our parents, except with out limitations. Thank you for this awesome reply ^^.

 

[LaFleurDeLis]

All of these suggestions are great. I have battled this as well and have abstained from it for about a month or so. I’ve just focused my thoughts on other things. A big thing for me playing xbox for achievements. Keeps me focused and I think about that a lot. I still struggle with other aspects of this commandment. My fiance is guilty also (also Catholic), but again just another cross we’re bearing and trying to avoid.