Isaiah 29:13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,”

How do you know the Lord? Is your knowledge of our Lord only by what a preacher or teacher has taught you? Isaiah warned us, and the warning is still valid today. If your only knowledge of the Lord are by what men say, you do not know the Lord as you should.

Relationships stem from the heart, not the head. If you have opened up your heart and let the Lord in, why do you look for Him anyplace other than within your own heart? Yes you need a mind to reason with, but reasoning isn’t relationship.

Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Desire the Lord in your heart. He is not in the hope of your mind.

Psalm 21:2 Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.

If your heart’s desire is the Lord, you will get your heart’s desire.

It may be that the largest problem with mainstream religions today is that they love the commandments of men with their minds more than they love the Lord with the desires of their hearts. God does not want your good intentions, He wants your heart.

Institutional devotion is not the same as worshipping God.

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Spirit and Truth reside in the hearts of those who love God.

Romans 15:1Amplified Bible (AMP)

Self-denial on Behalf of Others – – Now we who are strong [in our convictions and faith] ought to [patiently] put up with the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not just please ourselves.

I include here the editorial note from the Amplified Bible version because it better explains what is going on in these opening verses of Romans 15. Denial of our old tendencies is not natural. It is not instinctual. It is faith based which has to be learned, it is unnatural.

Think of the difference between a baby slapping your face because he lacks proper motor skills and a man slapping you in anger. Your natural response is difference. Your faith based response should be, there is no difference, neither had the skills to control their hands.

Growth in Christ has to go beyond mere learning. If not then the difference between a baby slap and a man’s slap is merely height and weight. Self-control is the last fruit of the spirit listed and is practiced in self-denial, to restrain natural instincts in favor of our new nature in Christ.

Growing up in the natural is not a matter of self-control. It is genetic. Growing in Christ is not genetic, it is a conscious effort, a force of will, a commitment which requires effort on our part. We have all witnessed grown men who act like children and that is shameful. Is that what you want of your spiritual self?

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The transformation of the mind, making the mindset new, comes for studying God’s Word, believing the Word and then acting out by faith that which you know to be true.