Sinful Character Traits

At a Bible study, I was asked whether character traits may be sin. This was a perceptive question I think, and important, for a number of reasons. Sin is so often seen as a "surface feature". For instance, one might think that one has banished sin by now being done with lies, or by having cleansed one's home. And yet there may be an ocean of sin underneath, represented by character traits that take a lifetime to renew. Examples may be self-centredness, impatience, or the failure to trust God. OBSERVATION: Such a view both deepens the reality of sin, and the wonder of justification by faith.