If you have been born again (John 3), you know about the change God has made in you (2 Cor. 5:17). But others may not understand the difference in you. Why don’t you curse, get drunk, party, and watch R-rated movies? And when you try to explain, it may come across as pride. What people may not understand is that God changed you. When He changed you on the inside, your thoughts, speech, actions, and desires began to change. While you are thankful for God’s work in your life and can see the Holy Spirit producing the fruit of the Spirit in your life (Gal 5:22-23), others may not understand. This is why humility should be a big part of your life.

Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:1-7 NKJV

Paul knew that Christians can forget where the change has come from and start taking credit for their God-given character. He reminds us to be humble, to remember where we came from. If you are honest, you know that his description of our past is accurate. We were foolish, disobedient, deceived, lustful, angry, envious, and hateful. In other words, we have nothing to be proud of in ourselves.

We need to be reminded of what God did (and is doing) in us. He saw us in our raw, sinful state and still made the choice to love us. He could have left us to wallow in our sin and its consequences. He could have judged us by his perfect standard of righteousness and condemned us to the lake of fire, but thankfully he didn’t. Instead, he loved us and chose to wash and renew us. In other words, we didn’t do anything; God did everything.

Today, if you are a Christian, remember what God has done in your life. And as you see the change he is making in you, remember to be humble. He did it … not you.

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Further reading: Ephesians 2:1-10