Saturated in Sin

Book X of "Confessions" is the most condemning of the books so far. The weakness of humanity and our saturation in sin is revealed and Augustine succeeds in arousing disgust. Humans can become so deceived that we often times hold ourselves up to a level higher than sin to a point that we do not even realize we have sinned when we do wrong. How can we not realize the corruption within ourselves when we are in such despair? I have seen myself passing judgment on others without seeing my own flaws. This statement sounds ridiculous because my act of passing judgment without any knowledge on the subject is a flaw that will be judged against me. With every God-gifted sense that we possess we sin. When we take more joy in the effects of our senses than the One who gifted them, we are sinning. When the power goes out in my house I do not stop to give thanks to God for the gift of sight that I previously had and have now become more aware of in its absence. I see it as a stolen possession; my sight becomes, not a gift that is undeserved, but an ability that is my own. When I eat I do not choose the food that will best nourish the body that was made for me, but the food that will bring about satisfaction of my senses of taste, smell and sight. When I submit myself to the Lord I tell Him that I will put Him before any of the things in this world, yet I do not realize my daily submission to things such as the five senses of my body, which I could not possess without the Lord. How can we free ourselves from sin when we are so oblivious to it? We can only ask for humility and conviction, accept that we are sinners, repent, and pray for the gift of God's mercy on us.