When I was a child, I baked a cake. My dad thought it sounded good, so I asked for my mom’s recipe, rummaged through our cupboards for the ingredients and made a cake. My parents were pleased with me, and I am sure I was quite proud of myself. I made the cake. Me.

Years later, now a parent myself, my understanding of the part I played in making that cake have changed. My dad built our house, worked to afford our groceries, and wanted cake in the first place. My mom taught me to read, taught me to cook, stocked our pantry and gave me the recipe. (Knowing me, she probably had to clean the whole kitchen after I was done as well.)

So who really deserves the credit for the cake? Though pride will always shout, “ME! I was a good kid, I baked the cake!” Maturity instead insists, “Thank you, thank you, Mom and Dad; apart from you there would be no cake.” In just this way, maturity changes the boast that I chose Christ, into something more like, “Thank you, thank you, Lord Jesus; apart from you I can do nothing.”