With religion we learn self control, not surrender. We learn to change the outward, but we don't become a new creation.
We mistake some of the changes in our lives as fruits of the Spirit, but even the unbelievers can change their lives in this way.
Have we ever really experienced these words of Yeshua, "Whoever puts his trust in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his inmost being!" (John 7:38 CJB )?
I pray I will be changed, not by my own efforts (because that change never sticks), but because He lives in me and I surrender my will to Him.