“strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/act.14.22.CSB

Someone recently commented grace doesn’t condemn effort, only earning. Salvation by grace can’t be earned, but it must be demonstrated by effort, even as Jesus proved Himself the Savior by His work accomplished on the cross. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. Paul says we must continue in our faith. We grow in it by saturating ourselves with God’s word. The reason so many Christians are impoverished in faith is because they spend too little time in God’s word. The purpose of His word expanding our faith is to do His will. His will is that we are holy and fruitful. It is hard to die to ourselves, and our flesh makes that effort a daily challenge. We must daily resist the will to take revenge, speak evil, lust longingly, ignore serving, and otherwise indulge the sinful nature. We must overcome our fleshly resistance by doing the will of God and accomplishing the work of God. We must pray for people, serve the needs of people, and share the gospel with people so that they, too, can be saved. In loving people toward Jesus, we encounter their resistance against God, which makes our lives more difficult. We must identify with Jesus if we will ever suffer for Jesus. Our greatest love for our neighbor, sharing the gospel, will often create the greatest animus toward us as they resist submitting to God. If we are not suffering, we are not trying to become more holy or bear much fruit, proving ourselves to be His disciples.