Romans 8:5-6: Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

Recently, I experienced the difference between having a humanly, commonly-occurring thought and having a thought inspired by the Holy Spirit who lives within me. I would have always had these two kinds of thoughts and while I had never discriminated between the two before, I now recognize the difference. Living by the leading of the Holy Spirit requires subtlety. This isn’t because a life lead by the Holy Spirit is one of a higher standard, but because the Holy Spirit is very personal. The Holy Spirit never imposes its character or reveals its holiness to make a person surrender. The Holy Spirit shows its work only to those who truly want and yearn for it. Therefore, only those people who have a personal interest and pay attention to the Holy Spirit can hear its voice. Like the Bible says that thoughts from the flesh is death, thoughts from the flesh may hurt people’s feelings or even in extreme cases cause a person to have a hateful heart. If fleshly thoughts of your circumstances fill your head, they can engross your whole being which leaves your body tired and without energy. However, the thoughts that come from the Spirit are foundationally ones of thankfulness and the interpretation or explanation of your circumstances are not complicated so you don’t need to think as much. That is because the peace of Jesus Christ rules your heart. From my experience, thoughts from the flesh seem logical and rational and when these thoughts are shared with other people, because they easily empathize with them, these thoughts seem to be right. However, these two kinds of thoughts have a difference: death and life(peace). The surprising thing is that it’s possible to live your life without knowing the difference between these two. Further, if we don’t discriminate our thoughts, we can live our lives missing the thoughts that come from the Holy Spirit. I have thoughts that obviously comes from the Holy Spirit. I have these thoughts when I am close to God, weather when praying or reading His word or gathering with others to worship. Thoughts in accordance with the Holy Spirit and living according to the Holy Spirit, that is something in which we need more practice.