Will I go to hell for masturbation?

[Chruchgirl123]

So basically I am a 15 year old girl and I’ve been struggling with my healthy sexuality. A few months ago I tried masturbating and got nothing from it other then extreme guilt. I also watched porn but tried to justify it as watching art. I masturbated a few more times but felt the guilt each time and no pleasure. I prayed about it but still felt guilty. I know it was wrong but I need some way to relieve this painful urge. I’m not going to have sex until I’m married and I refuse brake that promise. I have psychological issues and was traumatised as a child. Would that have anything to do with my impure behaviour? I pray for forgiveness almost every night but is it to late? Will I spend an eternity in hell? If God and Jesus really love me will they be able to forgive the mistakes I made as a teenager? Am I still a Virgin?

 

[OraLabora]

So basically I am a 15 year old girl and I’ve been struggling with my healthy sexuality. A few months ago I tried masturbating and got nothing from it other then extreme guilt. I also watched porn but tried to justify it as watching art. I masturbated a few more times but felt the guilt each time and no pleasure. I prayed about it but still felt guilty. I know it was wrong but I need some way to relieve this painful urge. I’m not going to have sex until I’m married and I refuse brake that promise. I have psychological issues and was traumatised as a child. Would that have anything to do with my impure behaviour? I pray for forgiveness almost every night but is it to late? Will I spend an eternity in hell? If God and Jesus really love me will they be able to forgive the mistakes I made as a teenager? Am I still a Virgin?

Never despair of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Just keep doing your best to overcome this sin. If you become Catholic, you can use the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) to help you heal and restore your relationship with Christ when you fail at this or other sins. Being 15 is not an easy time when it comes to this particular sin, but be assured God understands if you try your best to overcome sin.

 

[JamalChristophr]

Jesus loves you very much, and he always will.

Try your best to overcome this sin. Here are some ideas for doing that:

Ask Jesus to help you. Pray to him when you wake up in the morning. Speak to him when you lay down to go to sleep. Talk to him during the day often, especially when you feel tempted to do something that is not right.

Remember always that this behavior you speak of never leads a person to happiness. It will always leave a person sad.

Do you read the bible daily? At your age, I think it would be a most excellent thing to start doing- especially, the four gospels, to start with.

If you want to become stronger, Love Jesus **more **each day.

And lastly, pick your friends carefully. Try to find some friends who really do love God and will encourage you to do the same.

May the Blessed Mother of Jesus, who is also your mother, hide you in her heavenly mantle and bring you ever closer to her Son!

Oh, one more thing, you can post a prayer intention in the “intentions” forum to have people praying for you. This can be a huge help!!

 

[RosslynV]

I highly recommend you receive the sacrament of Penance asap. You have to develop healthy habits or hobbies to REPLACE sinful habits/vices.

 

[Sonny89]

I pray for forgiveness almost every night but is it to late? If God and Jesus really love me will they be able to forgive the mistakes I made as a teenager?

Peace and All Good to you!

It certainly isn’t too late, and as has been said already, Jesus loves you a lot-He loves each of us with a greater, more intimate love than we could possibly understand. He is always willing to forgive us when we turn to Him in our hearts & ask Him for it, remember these words from the Gospel of Luke Chapter 18:[1] And he spoke also a parable to them, that we ought always to pray, and not to faint, [2] Saying: There was a judge in a certain city, who feared not God, nor regarded man. [3] And there was a certain widow in that city, and she came to him, saying: Avenge me of my adversary. [4] And he would not for a long time. But afterwards he said within himself: Although I fear not God, nor regard man, [5] Yet because this widow is troublesome to me, I will avenge her, lest continually coming she weary me.

[6] And the Lord said: Hear what the unjust judge saith. [7] And will not God revenge his elect who cry to him day and night: and will he have patience in their regard? [8] I say to you, that he will quickly revenge them. But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth? [9] And to some who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others, he spoke also this parable: [10] Two men went up into the temple to pray: the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

[11] The Pharisee standing, prayed thus with himself: O God, I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this publican. [12] I fast twice in a week: I give tithes of all that I possess. [13] And the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: O God, be merciful to me a sinner. [14] I say to you, this man went down into his house justified rather than the other: because every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted. (taken from drbo.org/chapter/49018.htm).

I always found the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Have Mercy on me a Sinner” to be very helpful in this regard also.

It’s also important to remember that overcoming these sins & temptations takes time & perseverance, unfortunately it’s to usually possible to snap our fingers & magically overcome them so whatever you do please fight against any desire or temptation you may feel towards despair or giving up & just take this road one step at a time, always returning to Jesus, the inexhaustible fountain of Love, Grace, Mercy & Peace

I will be praying for you.

God Bless

 

[captainrick]

So basically I am a 15 year old girl and I’ve been struggling with my healthy sexuality. A few months ago I tried masturbating and got nothing from it other then extreme guilt. I also watched porn but tried to justify it as watching art. I masturbated a few more times but felt the guilt each time and no pleasure. I prayed about it but still felt guilty. I know it was wrong but I need some way to relieve this painful urge. I’m not going to have sex until I’m married and I refuse brake that promise. I have psychological issues and was traumatised as a child. Would that have anything to do with my impure behaviour? I pray for forgiveness almost every night but is it to late? Will I spend an eternity in hell? If God and Jesus really love me will they be able to forgive the mistakes I made as a teenager? Am I still a Virgin?

Yes, of course you are a virgin… Please, don’t torture yourself with worry. Go to confession. You will be just fine.

 

[OraLabora]

I highly recommend you receive the sacrament of Penance asap. You have to develop healthy habits or hobbies to REPLACE sinful habits/vices.

Note that the OP is not Catholic thus cannot receive the sacrament of reconciliation. Perhaps she will convert and may be able to do so in the future.

But that doesn’t prevent her from repenting and turning over her life to Christ, and to pray to Him for forgiveness.

 

[ready]

So basically I am a 15 year old girl and I’ve been struggling with my healthy sexuality. A few months ago I tried masturbating and got nothing from it other then extreme guilt. I also watched porn but tried to justify it as watching art. I masturbated a few more times but felt the guilt each time and no pleasure. I prayed about it but still felt guilty. I know it was wrong but I need some way to relieve this painful urge. I’m not going to have sex until I’m married and I refuse brake that promise. I have psychological issues and was traumatised as a child. Would that have anything to do with my impure behaviour? I pray for forgiveness almost every night but is it to late? Will I spend an eternity in hell? If God and Jesus really love me will they be able to forgive the mistakes I made as a teenager? Am I still a Virgin?

If you know that masturbation is a mortal sin and you do not fight the urge to masturbate with all your strength and just give right into the sin, then, yes, your soul is in danger of hell. You say that you were traumatized as a child, so you should seek help. If you think that what happened to you when a child is making it difficult for you to be pure, then you are obligated to seek help if you want to make good confessions. I don’t think that one can give into masturbation and truly be a virgin, for virgins are virginal, pure and chaste. I imagine in one respect you may still be considered a virgin, but in the strict sense of the word I imagine you would not be considered one, for virgins are pure and chaste. Please keep your heart and hand in Mary’s and your heart and body pure for Jesus. God bless you.

 

[RosslynV]

Note that the OP is not Catholic thus cannot receive the sacrament of reconciliation. Perhaps she will convert and may be able to do so in the future.

But that doesn’t prevent her from repenting and turning over her life to Christ, and to pray to Him for forgiveness.

Missed that. OP must convert to catholicism in order to have this mortal sin absolved.

 

[JamalChristophr]

Missed that. OP must convert to catholicism in order to have this mortal sin absolved.

I’m not sure we have the capacity or authority to say that she committed a mortal sin. Three conditions must be met before a sin can be deemed mortal. The first condition, that masturbation is considered grave matter, has been met. But there are still two other conditions that must be met for a sin to be mortal.

I just don’t think we can say that this non-Catholic 15 yr old girl who may have a history of past trauma committed a mortal sin.

To churchgirl:

Please, never ever have anything to do with pornography again. It is not art, it comes from Hell itself. It is good that you felt guilty. That is a healthy response to doing something that is a sinful action. I know you are not Catholic, but I’d like to invite you to consider the possibility of joining the Catholic Church in the future. I’d recommend stopping in now and then at a Catholic Church to pray for all the things you might need in your life and just to talk to God.

God Bless!

 

[PietroPaolo]

Only if you don’t repent. God can forgive any sin as long as we are willing to accept His forgiveness. But you have to be willing to not just say you are sorry, but also make a firm amendment to never masturbate again and to avoid whatever things cause you to want to masturbate. Will you fall again? Maybe, but that is beside the point. God’s forgiveness isn’t contingent upon our success at avoiding the same sin in the future, but our repentance is contingent upon firmly striving to avoid ever sinning again.

Pax tecum.

 

[Sonny89]

I highly recommend you receive the sacrament of Penance asap. You have to develop healthy habits or hobbies to REPLACE sinful habits/vices.

Peace and all Good everyone!

This is very important also, with sin, particularly something like porn or masturbation it’s very dangerous to leave a vacuum, we need to find graces/virtues to fill the place left by removing the vice.

 

[Sonny89]

Only if you don’t repent. God can forgive any sin as long as we are willing to accept His forgiveness. But you have to be willing to not just say you are sorry, but also make a firm amendment to never masturbate again and to avoid whatever things cause you to want to masturbate. Will you fall again? Maybe, but that is beside the point. God’s forgiveness isn’t contingent upon our success at avoiding the same sin in the future, but our repentance is contingent upon firmly striving to avoid ever sinning again.

Pax tecum.

Peace & All Good

this reminds me of the acronym HALT, referenced by Fr Apostoli, CFR in one of his books where he talks about identifying triggers for sins against purity. HALT stands for: Hungry, Angry, Lonely and Tired, which can often be triggers. It’s an acronym also commonly used in Alcoholics Anonymous as well, I think

Obviously, everyone has different triggers but it’s a great point & I’ve really found it helpful. You can also get soft are (some free, some you have to pay for) which blocks & filters certain websites, if you’re trying to access things online.

God Bless

 

[WilT]

So basically I am a 15 year old girl and I’ve been struggling with my healthy sexuality. A few months ago I tried masturbating and got nothing from it other then extreme guilt. I also watched porn but tried to justify it as watching art. I masturbated a few more times but felt the guilt each time and no pleasure. I prayed about it but still felt guilty. I know it was wrong but I need some way to relieve this painful urge. I’m not going to have sex until I’m married and I refuse brake that promise. I have psychological issues and was traumatised as a child. Would that have anything to do with my impure behaviour? I pray for forgiveness almost every night but is it to late? Will I spend an eternity in hell? If God and Jesus really love me will they be able to forgive the mistakes I made as a teenager? Am I still a Virgin?

The best advice I can give you is not to experiment. And pray to God for strength and understanding for your situation. I’ll keep you in my prayers.

 

[808Catholic]

So basically I am a 15 year old girl and I’ve been struggling with my healthy sexuality. A few months ago I tried masturbating and got nothing from it other then extreme guilt. I also watched porn but tried to justify it as watching art. I masturbated a few more times but felt the guilt each time and no pleasure. I prayed about it but still felt guilty. I know it was wrong but I need some way to relieve this painful urge. I’m not going to have sex until I’m married and I refuse brake that promise. I have psychological issues and was traumatised as a child. Would that have anything to do with my impure behaviour? I pray for forgiveness almost every night but is it to late? Will I spend an eternity in hell? If God and Jesus really love me will they be able to forgive the mistakes I made as a teenager? Am I still a Virgin?

You obviously struggle with acts you know are wrong and I would recommend you seek the guidance of a trusted religious leader in your church. The fact that you struggle and are willing to ask on a semi-public post sounds like you’re sincere and willing to correct your actions so it’s probably best you get your direction from someone you can trust.

God Bless you and grant you safe harbor from the sins of the world.

 

[kat56390]

So basically I am a 15 year old girl and I’ve been struggling with my healthy sexuality. A few months ago I tried masturbating and got nothing from it other then extreme guilt. I also watched porn but tried to justify it as watching art. I masturbated a few more times but felt the guilt each time and no pleasure. I prayed about it but still felt guilty. I know it was wrong but I need some way to relieve this painful urge. I’m not going to have sex until I’m married and I refuse brake that promise. I have psychological issues and was traumatised as a child. Would that have anything to do with my impure behaviour? I pray for forgiveness almost every night but is it to late? Will I spend an eternity in hell? If God and Jesus really love me will they be able to forgive the mistakes I made as a teenager? Am I still a Virgin?

I believe I am in a similar situation.
I am 16 and female. I faced some sexual abuse as a child (though I am not convinced that has anything to do with it). I am at that stage of my life where my hormones are at intense levels so I’m having awful feelings down there. I do not masturbate to gain a feeling of sexual pleasure- I have no interest in that kind of feeling. I do it to get rid of that awful feeling ‘down there’ that I cannot control at times. I always feel awful about it afterwards and I am trying to stop. I can’t talk comfortably to a parent about it and therefore will have to wait until the Easter season to go to confession as that is when my family goes.
God bless those who took the time to read this and can offer some advice.

 

[captainrick]

So basically I am a 15 year old girl and I’ve been struggling with my healthy sexuality. A few months ago I tried masturbating and got nothing from it other then extreme guilt. I also watched porn but tried to justify it as watching art. I masturbated a few more times but felt the guilt each time and no pleasure. I prayed about it but still felt guilty. I know it was wrong but I need some way to relieve this painful urge. I’m not going to have sex until I’m married and I refuse brake that promise. I have psychological issues and was traumatised as a child. Would that have anything to do with my impure behaviour? I pray for forgiveness almost every night but is it to late? Will I spend an eternity in hell? If God and Jesus really love me will they be able to forgive the mistakes I made as a teenager? Am I still a Virgin?

No. If that was the case, there would be billions of people in hell, and heaven would be very empty. Don’t worry.

 

[Deo_Gratias42]

I highly recommend you receive the sacrament of Penance asap. You have to develop healthy habits or hobbies to REPLACE sinful habits/vices.

She’s not Catholic.

I had a Christian roommate who committed a most horrible horrible sin and she had the same issue as the poster regarding guilt and God’s forgiveness and not being sure if she was forgiven.

The only sure way to know you’re forgiven is to come home to Rome and become Catholic so that you can receive the sacraments, especially that of Reconciliation in which Jesus, working through the priest (think of the priest like a telephone to God) absolves you of ALL your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus meant when he was giving the keys to Peter.

 

[Deo_Gratias42]

No. If that was the case, there would be billions of people in hell, and heaven would be very empty. Don’t worry.

You don’t have the ability to make that statement. Our Lady of Fatima told the children that more people go to Hell over sins of impurity than any other sin.

 

[kat56390]

You don’t have the ability to make that statement. Our Lady of Fatima told the children that more people go to Hell over sins of impurity than any other sin.

Most likely those who do not seek forgiveness. I’m praying very, very hard for my body to calm down and to no longer do sexual acts until marriage. I didn’t even seek pleasure in the first place when I did it.
I’m not saying it’s entirely justified.
Everything I do, I want it to be for him.
Someone please just tell me what to do I am so scared.