We have to realize that our flesh has been crushed, and our spirit has been not only regenerated but also strengthened. Our spirit is indwelt by the life-giving Spirit. We have such a wonderful, strengthened, mingled spirit within us, and this spirit must be the strongest part of our whole being. Do not have a strong mind, will, or emotion. The sisters should not let their emotions be the strongest part of their being. We have Jesus! We do not need to weep with many tears. Sometimes the tears of the sisters are for the purpose of gaining sympathy from others. The Old Testament tells us that two sons of Aaron were condemned and killed by the holiness of God. Moses then told Aaron not to weep for his sons (Lev. 10:1-3, 6). This means that the priests should control their natural affection, not sympathizing with the victim condemned by God’s holiness. Furthermore, God’s shekinah glory was there. There should be no tears in the presence of this shekinah glory. We should not have strong emotions. We have a strong spirit. Paul said that we have a spirit of power (2 Tim. 1:7), a strong spirit, strengthened by the divine Spirit. I want to stress this point to the uttermost—we have the strongest spirit, a spirit of power!
Those who go along with their spirit may seem to be somewhat crazy, but the proper Christians are crazy people. I do not mean that we are mental cases. What I mean is that we are the crazy lovers of Christ! The lovers of Christ are those who walk according to the spirit. In the book of Revelation, the apostle John said, "I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day...and I turned to see the voice that spoke with me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands" (1:10, 12). John was in his mingled spirit, heard the voice in his spirit, and had a turn in his spirit to see the seven golden lampstands. If you are bothered with certain church matters, do not stay in your mind to figure out things according to your knowledge and to argue about them. Forget about your mentality and turn to your spirit. When you turn to your spirit, the veil will be gone and you will see the churches as the golden lampstands.
Christ became flesh to crush the flesh, and He became the Spirit to impart life into us and to strengthen our spirit, not merely for our salvation, but for the building up of God’s habitation. God desires to have a resting place. In Isaiah 66:1 God said that heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool, but He is looking for a resting place. His resting place, His habitation, is composed of human beings who have been regenerated, transformed, and built together. God is looking for this, and Christ is God’s anointed One to accomplish this.
He became flesh and crushed the flesh on the cross. Then He became the Spirit and now is strengthening our spirit for the purpose of building up His habitation. In Ephesians 2:22 Paul said, "In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit." We can say that our spirit is the dwelling place of God. But strictly speaking, Ephesians 2:22 shows that our spirit is the place where the habitation of God is. The habitation of God is the Body, the built-up church. This habitation is in our spirit. There is only one place where we can be one. That place is in our spirit. If we get out of our spirit and stay in our mind, we will argue with one another. We should turn to our spirit.
When you are about to exchange words with your husband or with your wife, you should turn to your spirit. Once you turn to your spirit, your excuses will be terminated. Sometimes we may have the thought to argue with the brothers, but the life-giving Spirit will send a "cable" to our mind, telling our mind to come back to the spirit. The indwelling Christ tells us to turn to our spirit. Our exercising to turn to our spirit causes us to grow in life.
(The Flesh and the Spirit, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee)