Awareness of Sinfulness

Having sin as a category is something that has died out in part of the West. Sinfulness is not real to us.

On the other hand, suffering is real. And suffering due to guilty feelings is real.

It may be the case that just as suffering has displaced sin, awareness of sin can sometimes displace suffering. If we care about something greater than suffering, that is, our own sinfulness, then we come into being as moral agents, and this takes away from our obsession to feel good at all times. The obsession gone, we actually feel better.

Suffering due to guilty feelings is real, but it is not exactly awareness of sinfulness. When I am aware of my sinfulness, I am. It's not forced on me by social pressure, psychological tricks such as the imagery of hell, or the inborn drive of people to look acceptable to themselves or others. All of these things may be gateways to true awareness of sinfulness, but in themselves they are not it. Awareness of sinfulness is when we, as ourselves acknowledge that truth, that we are aware of sinfulness. Not victims of psychological (or demonic) forces that say "You did wrong", but rather people who see the truth, as people.