“Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God."
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:5-8 NLT‬‬

Our sinful nature wants to control our thinking and, thus, control our actions. If we choose to obey our fleshly desires we will reap death as its ultimate end.
However, if we truly have the Holy Spirit living inside us, we can listen to His direction concerning our decisions. We can talk about being a true follower of Jesus but the evidence is in our submission to the Holy Spirit who resides inside those who truly know Jesus. As we allow the Holy Spirit to direct our steps, we can be led by Him into the ways of righteousness. If we choose to listen to our selfish, sinful nature we will be lead down the path of destruction. Sin always has a price. It takes us further than we intended to go, makes us stay longer than we wanted to stay, and makes us pay more than we wanted to pay. Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 both say “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death." NLT‬‬.
Which way will you choose?