People who live following their sinful selves think only about what they want. But those who live following the Spirit are thinking about what the Spirit wants them to do.
If your thinking is controlled by your sinful self, there is spiritual death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace.
Why is this true? Because anyone whose thinking is controlled by their sinful self is against God. They refuse to obey God’s law. And really they are not able to obey it. Those who are ruled by their sinful selves cannot please God.
But you are not ruled by your sinful selves. You are ruled by the Spirit, if that Spirit of God really lives in you. (Romans 8:5-9 ERV)
We are all, by nature, selfish beings. This is the reality of every human born into the world. The only way this can change is with God's intervention.
But this intervention needs to be continuous and internal, not temporary and external, which is how our selfish nature would prefer it. Why? Because we don't like to surrender our will to anyone, even God.
The contrast between a life led by our selfishness and a life led by God's Spirit is dramatic. A life surrendered to selfishness leads to a tyrannical state of slavery. A life in submission to God's Spirit, brings freedom, peace, and a life of joy.
The battle of the will takes place in our mind. What we choose to focus our thoughts on each day, throughout a day, determines what rules our life. Either we choose the old tyrannical way of self, or we choose the freedom found only in surrendering our will to God. ©Word-Strong_2016