Today's morning insight is from my devotional reading of St. Faustina's diary. For context: I've been talking a lot about faith and good works, grace and free will, with the students in my Church History intro class this semester. One of the things we talk about is that although we don't earn our salvation with good works (Eph 2:8-9), we are expected to do good works to participate in our sanctification and salvation (Eph 2:10, the very next verse, and also Phil 2:12, etc.). But when we talk about good works, we sometimes get tripped up by the observation that unbelievers appear to do good works, and sometimes better works than Christians.

So then I read this today in St. Faustina's diary: I have come to know that only love is of any value; love is greatness; nothing, no works, can compare with a single act of pure love of God.

I interpret that as meaning that no matter how good a work seems to be, nothing counts as a true "good work" (in the sense of being something that cooperates with God's grace and participates in what God is doing in the world, and contributes to our sanctification and salvation) unless it is done as an act of love for God. This fits well with the passage we looked at recently in The Journey - that we should do our good works so as to: let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven (Matt 5:16).

A good work, in the spiritual sense, is something we do as a labor of love for God.