Balancing Good Deeds and Faith

[S] Titus 3:5-6,9b --
 ⁵He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
 ⁶whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
 ^9bso that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. 

[O] In my journey with God, one of the toughest areas to balance is between my deeds (works) and my faith because it seems like there is a fine line separating these two in the context of following God.  For example, in order to follow God I must start with a right faith in God which is more of the believing aspect of my heart but following that are my good deeds (works) which is aligned with that original faith.  It's almost the "chicken and egg" problem -- intertwined and recursive and these two really cannot be thought of separately.  Paul writes about these two aspects in today's passage.  God's saving grace is not based on a list of actions I achieve/accomplish but by His mercy of regenerating our hearts.  But he continues in verse 9 about how the believers must engage in good deeds as they are good and profitable for others.  It appears that the order makes a critical difference where if I try to reach God's grace and mercy of renewing my heart by doing a bunch of checklist actions, then I'm headed down the wrong path.

[A] I must renew my heart and attitude toward God daily as I approach Him during my devotional times.  So the case in point is to make this happen daily!  I must do this out of my desperation of keeping my heart in line with His because without doing that I would veer away slowly from the path I should be on.  This concept also applies to my fatherhood for my children.  I could easily get into the mode of having them follow a bunch of checklist items and if they fulfill them all well, then they are good kids and if not they're in trouble with me.  On the outset this is not a wrong statement, but if they do it just to "please" me, then the whole thing is on a wrong foundation.  I must learn the wisdom to shepherd their hearts to first desire to establish a intimate and sound relationship with me and out of that they desire to carry out the "good deeds" and at this point wherever they need my coaching on how to improve on these good deeds, then I can step in to guide them further such that their actions will be profitable to others, especially to their parents!

[P] Dear God, I feel like I'm sandwiched between learning to be a good kid to You and learning to be a good father to my kids.  You know I cannot do both without Your wisdom.  Would you please not withhold any wisdom on how to shepherd my kids' hearts foremost so they would come to embrace Your saving grace and have the desire to pursue You?  There are so many things going on in their lives many times I get distracted in the midst of managing all of them and easily just become a taskmaster myself rather than the shepherd because there is almost a fear of losing control of these activities.  I want to surrender them all to You, really!  I want to see You working through their lives and want to not get in the way.  Would you continuously show me how I can do this better?  In Jesus' name.  Amen.