Too many Christians believe that love and grace is an automatic activity. In this verse we see that adding to our faith is not only under our command and control but we are also to put every effort into becoming better Christians. The circumstances life, especially the bad circumstances, can leave us worn out, embittered, and spiritually lost. Unless we make a concerted effort to see past the pain and difficulty of our lives we will grow but in the wrong direction. Faith requires work. The work required consists of prayer, fasting, study, thinking, reading, and reaching out to others without any regard to getting a return.
The change of heart by which we become children of God is in the Bible spoken of as birth. Again, it is compared to the germination of the good seed sown by the husbandman. In like manner those who are just converted to Christ "are as newborn babies" to grow up to the stature of men and women of Christ Jesus 1 Peter 2:2, Ephesians 4:15 or like the good seed sown in the field, they shall be called trees of the field, they shall be called trees of righteousness Isaiah 61:3. So from natural life, illustrations are drawn, to help us better to understand the mysterious truths of spiritual life.
Not all the wisdom and skill of men can produce life in the smallest object in nature. It is only through the life, which God Himself has imparted, that either plant or animal can live. So it is only through the life from God that spiritual life is begotten in the hearts of men. Unless a man is born from above, he cannot become a partaker of the life which Christ came to give John 3:3.
It is God who brings the bud to bloom and the flower to fruit. It is by His power that the seed develops, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear Mark 4:28. The prophet Hosea says of Israel that he shall grow as a vine Hosea 14:5,9. and Jesus bids us consider the lilies how they grow Luke12:2. Jesus teaches the same things when He says," Abide me, and I will abide in you. As the branch cannot bear fruits itself ex kept it abide in the vine; no more can ye except ye abide me.
John15: 4,5
Men have an idea that they must do some part of the work alone. They have trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, but now they seek by their own efforts to live aright. But even such efforts must fail. Jesus says without Me ye can do nothing. Our growth in grace, our joy, our usefulness all depend upon our union with Christ. He is the author and finisher of our faith.
The Bible tells us that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Let us remember what faith is. In its simplest form, faith is believing God will do what He says He will do (Romans 4:20-21). To know what God says to us, we must read the Bible, God's revealed words to man. It tells us how He wants us to live. It tells us what He will do for us. It includes many accounts of His dealings and intervention for individuals and all mankind.