🔔 OPENING

Over the past few weeks, the Holy Spirit has been teaching us how to walk with Him in our everyday choices.

• Week 46: Making choices from life and peace
• Week 47: Following through on what we chose
• Week 48: Remaining aligned after the decision
• Week 49: Learning from what our choices produce

Our question this week is:

What is this choice producing in me and through me?

Matthew 12:33 — “For a tree is known by its fruit.” 

Every choice produces something.

Our choices may produce:

• peace or unrest
• truth or inner conflict
• integrity or compromise
• freedom or unhealthy dependence
• responsibility or avoidance
• deeper trust or greater anxiety
• responsiveness to God or spiritual dullness

And choices are not limited to work, relationships, money, boundaries, or responsibilities.

We also make choices in how we respond to God.

Let me ask you:

• How many of you made a choice this week that seemed small at the time, but you later realised it affected much more than you expected?
• Have you ever looked back at something and thought, “I did not realise that was a choice I was making”?
• Can you think of one choice this week that affected your peace, attitude, relationship, or fellowship with God?

You do not have to answer aloud—just identify one.

That is the choice I want you to keep in mind as we continue.

This section is strong, but it can flow more naturally by moving from definition → recognition → categories → interaction → example → principle → application. I would also remove a little repetition so the section feels lighter when taught aloud.

1. NOT EVERY CHOICE FEELS LIKE A DECISION

Some choices are clear and intentional:

“I decided to do this.”

But other choices are less obvious. They may happen through:

• habit
• delay
• avoidance
• passivity
• distraction
• omission

In other words, we are sometimes making choices without experiencing them as a clear moment of decision.

Which one are you most likely to overlook as a choice?

1. Delay and Avoidance

• delaying
• avoiding
• doing nothing
• postponing a necessary conversation
• repeatedly putting off what you already know you need to do
• failing to respond

2. Emotional and Reactive Choices

• reacting emotionally instead of pausing
• speaking when wisdom says to pause
• withdrawing instead of communicating
• remaining in resentment instead of releasing the offence
• allowing another person’s reaction to govern your decision
• assuming instead of asking

3. Fear, Pressure, and People-Pleasing

• repeatedly saying yes out of guilt
• choosing comfort over obedience
• rehearsing fear instead of returning to truth
• keeping control instead of trusting God
• refusing help because you want to manage everything yourself
• not setting a boundary when one is needed

4. Distraction and Inattention

• allowing distraction
• choosing distraction instead of facing what needs attention
• allowing busyness to crowd out time with God
• failing to return your attention to God when you notice you have drifted
• continuing spiritual activity outwardly while your heart remains disengaged

5. Habit and Default Responses

• continuing a habit simply because it is familiar
• doing what you normally do without considering whether it is still right
• responding automatically instead of prayerfully
• remaining passive because no immediate action feels necessary
• repeating a familiar pattern without noticing what it is producing

6. Spiritual Omission

• ignoring a prompting from the Holy Spirit
• failing to act on what God has already made clear
• repeatedly worrying after you have prayed
• neglecting to return to God’s truth when fear rises
• failing to engage your heart in prayer or worship
• remaining silent when obedience requires a response

7. Responsibility and Stewardship

• neglecting rest even when your body and mind are depleted
• failing to follow through on a commitment
• not addressing something that is your responsibility
• failing to ask for help when it is needed
• allowing something important to remain unattended because it feels inconvenient

Sometimes the choice we most need to examine is not the one we consciously made, but the one we kept making through delay, habit, avoidance, omission, or default.

Now let me ask you:

Have you ever said, “I didn’t choose that,” and later realised that repeatedly doing nothing was itself shaping the outcome?

Everyday Scenario

Suppose you know you need to return someone’s call, but every day you think:

“I’ll do it later.”

You never consciously decided:

“I am not calling them.”

But after a week, what has your repeated delay begun to produce?

Possible responses:

• distance
• tension
• guilt
• an unresolved responsibility
• misunderstanding
• a weakened relationship

So although there was no dramatic moment of decision, a repeated pattern was still producing fruit.

This can happen in many areas of life.

I may not deliberately choose to disobey God, but repeatedly postponing what He made clear can become a pattern of non-response.

I may not consciously choose anxiety, but continually rehearsing fearful thoughts instead of returning to truth can strengthen anxiety.

I may not decide to create relational distance, but repeatedly avoiding a necessary conversation can still produce it.

This does not mean that every automatic reaction carries the same responsibility as a deliberate choice.

But it does mean that fruit can sometimes help us recognise a choice, habit, agreement, pattern, or omission that we had not noticed before.

That is why we ask:

What is this producing in me and through me?

And sometimes we need to go one step further:

What choice, habit, agreement, pattern, or omission may be producing this fruit?

The Holy Spirit brings these things into our awareness not to condemn us, but to help us see clearly so that we can respond differently.

2. OUTCOME AND FRUIT ARE NOT ALWAYS THE SAME

An outcome is what happened as a result of the choice.

Fruit is what the choice began to produce or form in you, through you, or in the situation over time.

Sometimes the outcome and the fruit are similar.

For example:

You chose to apologise sincerely.

Outcome: The conversation became calmer.
Fruit: Greater humility, honesty, and relational healing.

Here, the immediate result and the deeper fruit are moving in the same direction.

But sometimes they are different.

You said yes to a request.

The task was completed.

Everyone was pleased.

That was the outcome.

But afterward you became resentful, exhausted, or angry.

That was part of the fruit.

The outward result looked successful, but the deeper effect revealed something important.

Perhaps the choice came from:

• pressure
• fear of disappointing someone
• people-pleasing
• failure to recognise your limits

So:

“It worked” does not always mean “It was healthy.”

The opposite can also happen.

You tell the truth respectfully and someone becomes upset.

Outcome: The person is unhappy with you.
Fruit: You grow in integrity, courage, freedom from people-pleasing, and peace before God.

You establish a necessary boundary and someone disagrees.

Outcome: There is temporary tension.
Fruit: Greater clarity, responsibility, stability, and healthier relating.

You choose to trust God while waiting.

Outcome: The circumstance does not change immediately.
Fruit: Greater faith, peace, patience, and confidence in His character.

So a difficult outcome does not automatically mean the choice was wrong.

A simple way to remember it:

Outcome asks:
“What happened?”

Fruit asks:
“What did this begin to produce or form?”

Sometimes they agree.

Sometimes the immediate outcome is uncomfortable while the deeper fruit is healthy.

Sometimes the immediate outcome looks successful while the deeper fruit reveals misalignment.

That is why Week 49 teaches us to look beyond what happened and ask:

“What is this producing in me and through me?”

3. OUR SPIRITUAL RESPONSES ARE ALSO CHOICES

Some of the most formative choices we make are our responses to God.

For example:

Prayer

I may become distracted, but I can choose to return my attention to God.

The goal is not:

“I will never be distracted.”

It is:

“When I notice distraction, I will return.”

That repeated choice may produce greater attentiveness and deeper fellowship with God.

Worship

I can sing words outwardly, or I can choose to turn my heart toward God Himself.

Worship in spirit and in truth is more than participating in a song.

It is responding to God.

Believing God’s Truth

When fear or circumstances contradict what God has said, I must decide what I will agree with.

Faith does not deny reality.

It refuses to allow circumstances to redefine God or His Word.

Trusting God’s Character

Sometimes I do not understand what God is doing.

The question then becomes:

Can I trust the One I do not fully understand?

Resting Upon God’s Promise

I may pray about something and then continually reopen it through anxiety.

Rest means:

I continue doing what God has given me to do while refusing to carry what belongs to Him.

These spiritual choices may produce:

• deeper fellowship
• stronger faith
• increasing trust
• greater stability
• peace
• spiritual attentiveness
• responsiveness to the Holy Spirit

But repeated distraction, unbelief, avoidance, or merely outward spiritual activity can also produce:

• spiritual dullness
• instability
• anxiety
• religious routine without relational engagement

Every choice is forming something—including how we respond to God.

4. RELIEF IS NOT ALWAYS PEACE

Sometimes we avoid something difficult and immediately feel better.

That is relief.

But relief and peace are not always the same.

You avoid the conversation.

The pressure disappears temporarily.

But the issue remains unresolved.

Or you distract yourself from anxiety rather than bringing it before God.

For a while you feel better.

Then the anxiety returns.

Relief says:

“I escaped the discomfort.”

Peace can remain even while the circumstance is unresolved because the heart has become settled in God.

Do not confuse relief with peace.

5. FRUIT DOES NOT REPLACE TRUTH

We must not say:

“I felt peaceful, therefore God approved my choice.”

Fruit must still be considered alongside:

• Scripture
• truth
• wisdom
• integrity
• responsibility
• love
• the character of Christ
• the leading of the Holy Spirit

Our feelings are not the final authority.

Fruit helps us learn, but it does not replace truth.

🌿 WHAT ARE MY CHOICES FORMING?

When examining a choice, ask what it is producing in:

My Character

Am I becoming more truthful, humble, responsible, loving, confident, or courageous?

My Conduct

What am I repeatedly doing?

My Relationships

Is this producing trust, health, resentment, distance, or confusion?

My Responsibilities

Am I becoming more faithful or more avoidant?

My Fellowship With God

Am I becoming more trusting, attentive, responsive, sensitive to His promptings, submissive and engaged with Him?

My Inner Alignment

Is the life and character of Christ becoming increasingly visible in my responses?

 FORMATION EXERCISE

Think of one real choice or pattern of response you recently noticed.

It may be practical, relational, emotional, or spiritual.

Examples:

• I chose to tell the truth even though it was uncomfortable.
• I kept postponing something I knew I needed to do.
• I chose to return my attention to God when distracted in prayer.
• I chose to trust God instead of continuing to rehearse fear.
• I avoided a necessary conversation.
• I chose to rest upon God’s promise rather than keep trying to control the outcome.
• I said yes to something even though I knew I did not really have the time or capacity.
• I became irritated and responded sharply instead of pausing before I spoke.
• I chose not to answer immediately because I knew I was too emotional.
• I kept scrolling on my phone even though I knew I needed to stop and attend to something important.
• I chose to complete a responsibility instead of putting it off again.
• I ignored a message because I did not want to deal with the situation.
• I apologised instead of continuing to defend myself.
• I chose to listen fully instead of interrupting or preparing my response.
• I agreed to something because I did not want the person to be disappointed with me.
• I spent money impulsively and later realised I had not considered my priorities.
• I chose to rest instead of continuing to push myself simply because I felt guilty stopping.
• I kept thinking about what someone said until resentment began to grow.
• I chose to forgive rather than keep rehearsing the offence.
• I avoided asking for help because I wanted to manage everything myself.
• I followed through on something I had promised, even though it was inconvenient.
• I chose not to join a conversation that was becoming negative or unhelpful.
• I reacted to someone’s tone instead of first considering what they were actually saying.
• I kept worrying about something after I had already prayed about it.
• I chose to thank God for His faithfulness while I was still waiting for the answer.
• I participated in worship outwardly but realised my heart was not really engaged.
• I noticed my mind wandering in prayer and deliberately turned my attention back to God.
• I knew the Holy Spirit was prompting me to do something, but I kept delaying.
• I chose to believe what Scripture said even though my feelings were saying something different.

You do not need to choose a dramatic decision. A small, ordinary choice may reveal just as much about what is being formed in you.

Then ask:

1. What did I choose—or what did I allow, avoid, delay, or omit?

I chose / allowed / avoided / delayed ____________________.

2. What was the immediate outcome?

The immediate outcome was ____________________.

3. What fruit did it begin producing in me or through me?

The fruit I noticed was ____________________.

4. What may have been producing that fruit?

Was it something like:

Then ask:

What was really influencing my response?

Was I responding from what the Holy Spirit was forming in me, or was another influence governing my choice?

Not every choice on the right is necessarily a conscious decision. Sometimes the fruit helps us recognise a fear, habit, pressure, agreement, or default response that had been operating unnoticed.

Examples:

The fruit does not always tell us immediately what caused it, but it can prompt us to prayerfully ask the Holy Spirit for insight and recognise what may have been influencing our response. 

• Fruit: Resentment
  I agreed to help, but later became irritated.
  What may have produced it that the Holy Spirit will help me to see?            People-pleasing, pressure, or failure to recognise my capacity.
• Fruit: Peace
  I told the truth respectfully even though I was nervous.
  What may have produced it that the Holy Spirit will help me to see? Obedience, courage, integrity, and trust in God.
• Fruit: Anxiety
  I prayed about the situation but kept replaying every possible outcome.
  What may have produced it that the Holy Spirit will help me to see?  Fear, unbelief, or the need to remain in control.
• Fruit: Greater trust
  I did not understand what God was doing, but I chose to rest in His character.
  What may have produced it that the Holy Spirit will help me to see?  Faith, surrender, and confidence in God.
• Fruit: Spiritual dullness
  I completed my prayer time, but repeatedly allowed myself to remain distracted and disengaged.
  What may have produced it that the Holy Spirit will help me to see?  Habit, inattention, religious duty, or passivity.
• Fruit: Deeper fellowship with God
  Each time I noticed distraction in prayer, I deliberately returned my attention to Him.
  What may have produced it that the Holy Spirit will help me to see?  Love for God, attentiveness, desire for fellowship, and responsiveness to the Holy Spirit.
• Fruit: Exhaustion and frustration
  I kept saying yes to requests even when I knew I had little capacity left or I was not being led in that direction.
  What may have produced it that the Holy Spirit will help me to see?  Pressure, guilt, fear of disappointing others, or people-pleasing.
• Fruit: Freedom
  I apologised instead of continuing to defend myself.
  What may have produced it that the Holy Spirit will help me to see?  Humility, truth, responsibility, and love.
• Fruit: Continued relational tension
  I kept avoiding a conversation that needed to happen.
  What may have produced it that the Holy Spirit will help me to see?  Fear, avoidance, discomfort, or self-protection.
• Fruit: Greater stability
  When fear arose, I kept returning to what God had said rather than rehearsing the fear.
  What may have produced it that the Holy Spirit will help me to see?  Truth, faith, trust, and perseverance.

5. What is the Holy Spirit helping me to see?

Pause and listen.

6. What adjustment, if any, is needed?

The adjustment I need to make is ____________________.

Possible answers:

• The adjustment I need to make is to pause before responding when I feel pressured or emotional.

• The adjustment I need to make is to stop delaying what God has already made clear to me.

• The adjustment I need to make is to return my attention to God when I notice distraction in prayer.

• The adjustment I need to make is to replace repeated fearful thoughts with deliberate agreement with God’s truth.

• The adjustment I need to make is to stop saying yes out of guilt or people-pleasing and respond according to godly wisdom, peace, and my actual capacity.

7. What will I carry into my next similar choice?

Next time, I will ____________________.

🌿 THE CENTRAL TRUTH

Saints, this is not about becoming perfect decision-makers.

And these exercises are not about self-improvement.

Christ is our life.

The Holy Spirit is forming the life of Christ in us.

Our choices matter because they reveal whether we are learning to:

• believe Him
• trust Him
• respond to Him
• yield to Him
• walk in truth
• remain aligned with His life within us

Some choices are deliberate.

Others become visible only when the Holy Spirit exposes a habit, delay, omission, or pattern.

That is why we examine fruit.

Not:

“Did I perform well?”

But:

“What is this producing in me and through me?”

Is faith growing?

Is trust deepening?

Is truth becoming established?

Is prayer becoming more relational?

Is worship becoming more genuine?

Am I becoming more responsive to the Holy Spirit?

Is Christ becoming more visible through my life?

As we examine the fruit, we must keep Christ as the source of the fruit. 

John 15:8 — “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.” Fruit is meant to glorify God and show the life of discipleship. 

Jesus taught that fruit reveals what is really being produced, and that lasting good fruit comes from abiding in Him. 

That is formation.

🔒 FORMATION SEAL

Together let us speak this truth over our lives:

I will pay attention to what my choices are producing.

I welcome the Holy Spirit’s light without condemnation.

I choose to believe God’s truth.

I choose to trust His character.

I choose to respond to Him in prayer and worship.

I choose to rest upon His promises.

I recognise healthy fruit with gratitude.

I acknowledge troubling fruit honestly.

I adjust when the Holy Spirit brings understanding.

Christ is being formed and increasingly revealed in me as I walk with Him.

🙏 CLOSING PRAYER

Holy Spirit, thank You for helping us see what our choices and responses are producing.

Bring into the light the decisions, habits, delays, agreements, and omissions that are shaping our life.

Teach us to believe God’s truth in our heart, to truthfully trust His character, to respond to Him in prayer and worship, and rest upon His promises.

Where the fruit is healthy, help us recognise it with gratitude.

Where adjustment is needed, give us humility and grace to respond.

Keep us free from shame and religious performance.

As we abide in Christ and yield to You, let His life become increasingly visible through us.

In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.

               Worksheet 

PERSONAL FORMATION EXERCISES

🌿 EXERCISE 1 — CHOOSE ONE REAL DECISION

Do not choose five things.

Choose one real choice you recently made.

It may involve:

• family;
• work;
• ministry;
• money;
• communication;
• a commitment;
• a boundary;
• your time;
• your health;
• an act of obedience.

Write:

The choice I made was:

🌿 EXERCISE 2 — WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME?

Simply identify what happened.

Do not interpret it yet.

The immediate outcome was:

Examples to help you understand how you can write your response. Please answer based on your experience.

• “The person became upset.”
• “The task was completed.”
• “I felt immediate relief.”
• “Nothing changed immediately.”

🌿 EXERCISE 3 — WHAT FRUIT IS APPEARING?

Now look deeper.

What is this choice producing in you?

What is this choice producing through you—in relationships, responsibilities or the situation around you?

Examples to help you understand how you can write your response. Please answer based on your experience.

• “I am becoming more honest.”
• “Resentment has been growing.”
• “Communication has become healthier.”
• “I am carrying greater peace.”
• “I have been avoiding responsibility.”
• “Trust is being rebuilt.”

🌿 EXERCISE 4 — FRUIT OR OUTCOME?

Complete this sentence:

“The outcome was ____________, but the fruit I am noticing is ____________.”

Examples to help you understand how you can write your response. Please answer based on your experience.

• “The outcome was uncomfortable, but the fruit was integrity.”
• “The outcome looked successful, but the fruit was resentment.”
• “The outcome was delayed, but peace remained.”
• “The outcome gave me relief, but avoidance continued.”

🌿 EXERCISE 5 — DOES THE FRUIT AGREE WITH CHRIST?

Prayerfully consider:

Does what is developing agree with:

Truth • Love • Peace • Integrity • Responsibility • Humility • Obedience • Faithfulness

Circle or write what you recognise:

Then ask:

“Holy Spirit, what are You helping me to see?”

Write simply:

🌿 EXERCISE 6 — IS AN ADJUSTMENT NEEDED?

Choose the response that best describes where you are:

• The adjustment I need to make is:

• I need more time before making an adjustment.

1. No adjustment is presently clear. I will continue observing and walking with   the Holy Spirit.

Examples to help you understand how you can write your response. Please answer based on your experience.

• “I need to apologise.”
• “I need to communicate more clearly.”
• “I need to establish a healthier boundary.”
• “I need to take responsibility instead of avoiding the matter.”
• “I need counsel before deciding what to do.”
• “Nothing needs changing right now; I need to remain settled.”

🌿 FINAL EXERCISE — WHAT WILL I CARRY FORWARD?

Finish this sentence:

“One thing the Holy Spirit is teaching me through this choice is…”

Then:

“Because of what I have learned, in my next similar choice I will…”

A. SMALL-GROUP SHARING

If time permits, each person shares only:

1. The choice I examined was…
2. The fruit I noticed was…
3. What I am learning is…

They do not need to disclose private details.

The listener’s role is not to diagnose the person’s decision.

Simply listen.

If appropriate, ask:

“What do you sense the Holy Spirit is helping you learn?”

B. CORPORATE REFLECTION

What did you discover today about the difference between an outcome and fruit?

Allow several answers.

Then ask:

How could learning to notice fruit help you make wiser choices in the future without becoming afraid of making decisions?

This prepares the membership naturally for the next formation step:

Growing in Confidence With the Holy Spirit.

We are not examining fruit so that we become fearful.

We are learning so that our confidence becomes relational, teachable and mature.

C. CENTRAL TAKEAWAY

The Holy Spirit is not teaching us to make perfect choices.

He is teaching us to walk with Him, learn with Him, receive correction from Him, and increasingly allow the life of Christ to shape what our choices produce.

When healthy fruit appears:

Give thanks.

When troubling fruit appears:

Pay attention.

When correction is needed:

Adjust.

When nothing needs changing:

Remain settled.

And through all of it:

Keep walking with the Holy Spirit.

🔒 FORMATION SEAL

Say:

I will not judge my choices only by immediate outcomes.

I will pay attention to what they are producing in me and through me.

I welcome the Holy Spirit’s truth without condemnation.

I recognise healthy fruit with gratitude.

I acknowledge troubling fruit with honesty.

I will adjust when responsibility requires it.

I will not repeatedly reopen what God has already settled.

I will receive the lesson and carry it forward.

As I abide in Christ, I desire His life and character to become increasingly visible through my choices.

🙏 CLOSING PRAYER

Father, thank You that You are forming us through our everyday lives.

Holy Spirit, help us to recognise what our choices are producing.

Keep us from judging by appearances, immediate success, discomfort or relief alone.

Where Christ is becoming visible in us, help us recognise Your grace with thanksgiving.

Where something needs correction, give us humility to see it and courage to respond.

Keep us free from shame, fear and overthinking.

Teach us to learn without condemning ourselves, adjust without losing confidence, and remain settled where You have already given peace.

As we abide in Christ, let His love, truth, integrity, obedience, faithfulness and peace become increasingly visible in us and through us.

Teach us to walk with You with growing wisdom and confidence.

In Jesus’ mighty name,

Amen