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The M-Word aka Masturbation is the 800 lb gorilla in the room in any conversation about pornography. Most people with a porn problem have a strong masturbation habit. So what happens with masturbation when we shut off the porn? Is it bad? Good? Neutral?
“I have the right to do anything,” you say–but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”–but not everything is constructive. –1 Cor 10:23
In this episode you’ll learn:
- How to think about masturbation apart from shame
- Why the question, “Is masturbation without porn bad?” is the wrong question to ask
- 5 reasons masturbation is NOT beneficial for people leaving porn
- 5 practical tips in dealing with masturbation
BONUS: C.S. Lewis on Masturbation
“For me the real evil of masturbation would be that it takes an appetite which, in lawful use, leads the individual out of himself to complete (and correct) his own personality in that of another (and finally in children and even grandchildren) and turns it back; sends the man back into the prison of himself, there to keep a harem of imaginary brides.
“And this harem, once admitted, works against his ever getting out and really uniting with a real woman.
“For the harem is always accessible, always subservient, calls for no sacrifices or adjustments, and can be endowed with erotic and psychological attractions which no woman can rival.
“Among those shadowy brides he is always adored, always the perfect lover; no demand is made on his unselfishness, no mortification ever imposed on his vanity.
“In the end, they become merely the medium through which he increasingly adores himself. . . . After all, almost the main work of life is to come out of our selves, out of the little dark prison we are all born in. Masturbation is to be avoided as all things are to be avoided which retard this process. The danger is that of coming to love the prison.”
– Personal Letter From Lewis to Keith Masson (found in The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3)
These quotes originally appeared in the post, C. S. Lewis on Lust, Women, and Masturbation by Matt Fradd.
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