The living a life of faith is often hard labor. Who ever said this was not the case? It is often a struggle, but this is the work for which heaven is the payment. If you want to be paid, do not be lazy in your work. After all, if you had hired a workman, you would not pay him before you had put him to work. You would say, “Do the work, then you will get paid.” This is the way God deals with us.

—Augustine, Sermon 38.4