A balanced view :
http://www.acts17-11.com/dialogs_masturbation.html
But w
hat if no illicit fantasies are included in masturbation? Is the act then sinful? By scripture, there is nothing to indicate that it is. S
pecifically, if the act is done merely as a hedge against temptation and as the body requires then there is no need for the above sinful "crutches". This is hardly exciting, and a rote act of keeping the body in submission. It cannot be done often, as the body is not that demanding if left alone by a perverted imagination. On the other hand, if we attempt a
pent-up self-sex life, then we find that the body needs
help from the soul through illicit fantasies, and then sin is clearly being committed.
I hope this is clear. Were it not for our perverted imaginations and lustful sense of expectation, our bodies would not cause us much trouble.
And masturbation, never forbidden by God,
can be used as one of the ways that we can "learn to control our bodies"; not by inflaming the body with pornography or fantasies so that it can be done too often, but in using it to k
eep ourselves from dangerous, physical temptation when it can (rarely) be done without sinning in any way.
Commit yourself to a certain amount of pain, and commit yourself not to sin in thought, and I think you will find that masturbation cannot be done that often,
but when it is needed it is a true blessing as a way to keep your body under control. We should not indulge our bodies, but we should "honor" them and learn to live in them properly in this sinful world. For singles, God has given the ability to masturbate, and has not forbidden it. For married couples who are apart and who are thinking of each other, the same applies. But God has most definitely forbidden sinful thoughts that so often accompany masturbation, and for this we all need to die to self and commit ourselves to the fact that living holy in this world will involve pain.