I'm an expert on sin and sinning, and I suspect you are too. We do sinful things, have sinful thoughts, and we have a bent in our nature that makes us want to sin more. St. Augustine rightly concluded that we are "not able not to sin."

A church testimony states, "Apart from grace we prove each day that we are guilty sinners. Fallen in that first sin, we fail to thank God, we break his laws, we ignore our tasks. Looking for life without God, we find only death; grasping for freedom outside his law, we trap ourselves in Satan's snares; pursuing pleasure, we lose joy" (Our World Belongs to God, 15).

Pastor Tim Keller expands our sensitivity about sin in his book The Prodigal God. As he explores the parable more commonly known as "the prodigal son," Keller describes not only the younger son's sin—wasteful, loose behavior in the name of self-discovery—but also the older son's arrogant judgmentalism. The cruelest sin-trap of all is to suppose we are not in need of the father's lavish love because of our moral superiority. The deepest pride is to think that we don't need Jesus and the grace of his cross.

These thoughts are indeed depressing, but they are necessary. My sin and pride often push me away from fully embracing divine grace. Lord, forgive me.