I recently read the Confessions of Augustine, the bishop of Hippo in the fifth century. The majority of the autobiographical work is a continuous prayer to God, in which Augustine confesses his sins from his infancy to his conversion and confesses the workings of God’s grace in his life. I’ll mention only a few things that impressed me:

  • One must develop a sensitivity to sin, so that every sin rankles and hurts sharply until it is confessed.
  • A sensitivity to sin produces a sensitivity to God’s grace. Grace is meaningless if sin is unconfessed; confession of sin is meaningless if there is no grace.
  • It is good to be the son of a praying mother.