My understanding is this...

I have the holy spirit and as a result I want to spend my time learning about God. I want to have all the heavenly virtues. I want to grow spiritually as much as possible. I want to avoid sin. I want to represent God through my actions. I'm not depending on works to get me to heaven. I do however want to do the things above to make me a better christian.

You must be born again because Jesus Christ came and died for our sins so we could be made righteous by his blood.