In his epistle to Timothy, St. Paul sums up the gospel of God’s grace: “That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am first” (1st Timothy 1:15), which is why we incorporate this exact same verbiage into the prayer we recite just before receiving Holy Communion; because it acknowledges the very reason for being followers of Christ in the first place; that God so loved us that He sent His Son to die for us to save us. And this same Son, Jesus Christ, instituted the Holy Eucharist so that we might not only partake of His Body and Blood, but that through the eternal celebration of this holy, life-sustaining liturgy we offer unto God with thanksgiving, we might never forget His sacrifice.
In addition, just as Paul was astute enough to acknowledge his own sinfulness, and acutely aware that that sinfulness was the cause for all the pain and anguish our Lord endured during His Passion, we need to be conscious of our sins and acknowledge them before God in the Sacrament of Confession. Taking ownership of our misdeeds, asking God’s forgiveness, and most importantly asking our Lord to strengthen us to NOT turn back to them, but fight to overcome them.
