When we use the term self-righteousness, we do not mean self-justice. Someone who is self-righteous always considers that he is right. We use self-righteousness in the sense of someone thinking he is never wrong, but always right.
Self-justification is another characteristic of the flesh.
The desire to convince others that we are right, to vindicate ourselves, is also of the flesh.
Self-exaltation is another characteristic of the flesh. Thus, we can see that self-confidence, self-righteousness, self-justification, self-vindication, and self-exaltation are all aspects of the flesh. We should not forget that this is a lesson concerning service. We must help the saints to realize that in the church service, we have to condemn self-confidence, self-righteousness, self-justification, self-vindication, and self-exaltation. There should be nothing of the self in the church service. When we have these aspects of the self, we are absolutely fleshly, and the Spirit, the holy anointing oil, has nothing to do with us. If we are so self-confident, self-righteous, self-justifying, self-vindicating, and self-exalting, we lose the Spirit. The Spirit is gone in our experience.
Being opinionated is different from having an opinion. You may have an opinion and not be opinionated. An opinion is a concept. Everybody has opinions, but we should not be opinionated. To be opinionated is fleshly. The friction and the dissension among us come from our being opinionated. These things belonging to the flesh are the roots of the problems in the church service.
Philippians 2:14 charges us to do all things without murmurings, which are of the flesh. Murmurings are of our emotion and come mainly from the sisters.