Thanks.
I grew up being taught against 'self-pleasuring' as a young man. Looking through the Bible, I do not really see it addressed. It could assume certain terms in the Bible include it, like effeminate or lascivious, but it is not listed specifically anywhere that I am aware of, unless there is some real secret about the Greek or Hebrew. I am glad to be married. Also, if it shows up in the marriage bed to enable activity or help things along-- not wanting to be explicit or graphic--it would be kind of legalistic, IMO, to consider that to be sinful. It's not something I go around encouraging, but not something I see scripture as outright condemning.
I hear what you're saying. I do.
The side of things that I am failing to express well is this . . . what is the Mind of Christ? If Christ is God in the Flesh, then Christ is the author of the sexual relationship, for, He would be the author of life itself. Therefore, did Christ long for the sexual relationship? As the creator of the physical world, did His Omniscient, most better of ways long for the things done in the physical world? I promise to all this . . . not a chance.
I realize that the things I say are very difficult to understand, but I cannot help the fact that I had the most profound encounter with our Powerful, Almighty God. I have felt His Power to the degree that if I had felt more, I would have died. In this experience I realized many, many things, such as the Peace and Love of God is so Powerful, there is simply no need for the sexual relationship. The act of sex in itself is utter folly. It is a waste of time. For example . . . a person is drowning in a lake . . . is that the time to begin copulating? Or, do we even consider the thought of a sexual encounter, and rush to the person drowning in a lake? I would submit that even if it were a drowning animal, only a sick person would turn to the sexual relationship instead of saving an animal's life.
Dating apps are easy to understand. Everyone on a dating app that is looking for more than friendship . . . the primary interest is sex. We tell ourselves that if we don't see ourselves sexually attracted to a person, the reaction is, "Next" and we move on to the next photo or profile. A man says to himself, considering that a man's performance is not easy with a woman he isn't attracted to, "Can I become and stay aroused with this woman?" If the answer is no, then he has to move on, particularly if he's older and is developing a bit of PED. This is the main issue . . . the sexual relationship and "can I satisfy her with my body?"
I'm just cutting to the chase. I'm an older man and I hate the fact that we dance around this issue. Men want sex, and the older I have become, the more and more evident it became that so do women. And although I grew up in an era when women denied that they enjoyed it, the truth is . . . they do. So, we need to face the reality that we want relationships so that we can have our little, fleshly, worldly orgasms.
Is this the Mind of Christ? Is this how He thought while on earth? Is the Father, Son, and Spirit having sex in Heaven? Of course not . . . it is utter folly designed for silly humans. So . . . my profound experience left me with a deeper understanding of how God thinks, and less and less of like how [we] think. Because of that experience, I am forced to think more with the Mind of Christ rather than the mind of "David." (my personal name)
Romans 8:13 NKJV - "For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."
1 Peter 4:6 NKJV - "For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit."
Are those passages above to be taken seriously? Are we learning to think according to the Spirit that is [supposed] to be Indwelling us? Have we really changed? Have we really been Transformed? Or, does Romans 12:2 just seem like "Reader's Digest" material as well? Are we really taking the Word of God seriously?
Folks . . . what is YOUR Roman's 12:2 Transformation story? Who, I dare ask, has been transformed from a crawling bug to a beautiful butterfly? Do tell below . . .