To everyone who has been shamefully used by others in some form of sexual abuse, by being bullied and humiliated into behavior that damaged their ability to feel valuable, Jesus understands. To everyone who has fallen into addiction and the downward spirals that result from it, Jesus knows your sense of worthlessness. Jesus came to restore our relationship to God.
To repeat Bonheoffer here, Jesus came to give back to us what we have lost. We are “ashamed” because mankind has “lost something which is essential to his original character.” This essential can only be restored by the Redeemer, who buys us out of our slavery to sin and the depleted self, to give us a new self, recreated in his image.
Learn about Grand Canyon University’s Christian Counseling degrees.
References
Bonhoeffer, D. 1955. Ethics. Edited by E. Bethge. New York: The Macmillan Co.
Capps, D. 1993. The Depleted Self: Sin in a Narcissistic Age. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Fowler, J. W. Aug. 25‑Sept. 1, 1993. “Shame: Toward a Practical Theological Understanding.” The Christian Century. 816‑19.