Led by the Spirit?

I’m still trying to figure out why Paul would write Romans 8:5-8 to “all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (Rom. 1:7). There is no command in Romans 8:5-8. It’s just an observation: “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” To sum up the rest, a mind set on the flesh = death and is hostile to God and cannot please Him. A mind set on the Spirit = life & peace.

Maybe Paul said it because he wanted to encourage the Church in Rome. Later Paul tells them flat out that they are “not in the flesh but in the Spirit.” Therefore, they must have had their minds on the things of the Spirit. Right?

I’ve got to be honest. Although I place all of my faith, hope, and trust in Jesus and therefore know that He saved me from sin and death and has given me assurance of this by giving me His Spirit, I often times don’t have my mind on the things of the Spirit. How can this be?

On the other hand, it is very clear to me when I don’t live according to the Spirit. It feels like guilt. It feels like I’m out of place. Maybe, just maybe, could this be a mind which has been transformed by the Spirit? Could the very experience of guilt and misplacement before God be the Spirit inside of me telling me to come back to God? When I’m knee deep in my shame, and guilt has overcome me and there’s no where to go but to God, is that one way that God continues to show me His undeserving grace and mercy?

I can say this for sure, God’s love certainly leads me to repentance. And this is definitely a work of the Spirit. Nothing brings me more peace; nothing makes me feel more alive than unending, undeserving love, grace, and forgiveness.

    Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
        and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
    For the Lord is a God of justice;
        blessed are all those who wait for him.

                                                        - Isaiah 30:18