Am I constantly working on bearing fruits?

We are gifted with the Word of God, yet without constancy, dedication, and continuous effort, our hearts can remain rocky and shallow, and God's Word cannot bear fruits in our lives.

We can pray for the grace to have our hearts renewed and transformed into good soil, and have our faith deeply rooted in God's love, which gives us strength. Yet we still need to live persistently according to God's way. Grace is a free gift but requires our cooperation. (see CCC 1993, 2008)

Jesus taught us this by differentiating the hearers and doers in the parable of wise and foolish builders. “Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”(Matthew 7:24-27)

St. James also advised us to “be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves… those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.” (James 1:22,25)

Where do we start? We start by observing the greatest commandments taught by Jesus: love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. (see Matthew 22:34-40) This is a sure path to become virtuous in God's eyes and we will bear great spiritual fruits as a result.