NOTES for Col 3:17-4:1
If we do everything in the name of the Lord, the word “everything” is subject to certain restrictions. Can we do vile things, in word or deed, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Can we kill, steal, commit adultery, or bear false witness?! The very desire to do something in the name of the Lord already helps us in life, because decisions that are plainly wrong are discarded—not because they are incompatible with some formal rules, but because they are incompatible with the very person of Jesus.
Gratitude to God is the very foundation of Christian life. It is in thanksgiving that we are furthest from opposing Him: we do not merely accept His will—as though there were no other choice—but joyfully agree that it is good for us. The whole fullness of human, filial gratitude has already been expressed in the Eucharist, in the prayer and sacrifice of thanksgiving of Jesus Christ. Our greatest “thank you,” therefore, is union with Him and thanksgiving through Him.