Hebrews 4:12 English Standard Version (ESV) For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Note carefully the division within each of us. There is flesh and there is spirit. There is how we live and what gives us life. There are thoughts which do not originate from our heart of hearts. We should be aware of this division because one is selfish and the other selfless.

Romans 8:1-4 English Standard Version (ESV)

Life in the Spirit

¹ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

It is important to recognize that the flesh can do nothing but weaken obedience to authority. The flesh can only please itself and has no interest beyond self. The Spirit only serves God, His purpose and His will. Those are two extremes and our earthly life is walked out with both of those interests within us at all times.

We have to choose to follow one or the other every day. Choice is at the core of love. Love cannot be expressed with any sincerity without freedom of choice. God created us this way so that we could choose to love Him. We are no longer prisoners of our own devices. We are free to choose.