If you live by the Spirit and are trying to live according to God’s Word, then you can probably see a battle going on in the world today between good and evil. Everywhere you look you can see friend against friend, brother against brother, and even Christian against Christian. We especially see this in the world today. Politics, difference in opinion, religion, and other hot topics drive a wedge between people, and we as Christians allow it to happen, and it drives what the world thinks about Christianity.
The sinful nature is always hostile to God, so if people don’t know the Father, they won’t live by the Word of God. We cannot hold people to godly standards if they themselves do not live by godly standards. We must understand that they still live in the darkness, by their sin nature. But we are not bound by this sin nature. While we still give into the flesh at times and make mistakes, we are controlled by the Holy Spirit. So we should see things differently than the world sees. We should see them through the eyes of the Lord because we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Every decision, every thought, every action should be a result of the Spirit guiding us.
These two natures are always in conflict with each other. When you are living by the Spirit, you will experience conflict as others are seeing things through their fleshly nature. Remember this when you are having conversations with others. You may be the only Jesus they experience. Be gentle with them and be the good they see.