Excites “Sexual Appetite”

“Deaden, therefore, your body members,” urges the Bible, “as respects . . . sexual appetite.” (Colossians 3:5) This “sexual appetite” is not the new sexual sensations that most youths feel during puberty, of which there is no need to be ashamed. “Sexual appetite” exists when these feelings are intensified so that one loses control. Such sexual appetite has led to gross sexual immorality, as described by Paul at Romans 1:26, 27.b

But does not masturbation “deaden” these desires? On the contrary, as one youth confessed: “When you masturbate, you dwell mentally on wrong desires, and all that does is increase your appetite for them.” Often an immoral fantasy is used to increase the sexual pleasure. (Matthew 5:27, 28) Given the right circumstances, you can easily fall into immorality. One youth bemoaned after committing fornication: “At one time, I felt that masturbation could relieve frustration without my getting involved with a female. Yet I developed an overpowering desire to do so.” In fact, a nationwide study revealed that of those adolescents who masturbated, the greater number were also committing fornication. They outnumbered those who were virgins by 50 percent! The practice surely had not diminished their “sexual appetite”!