Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.
And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.

Paul isn’t just praying for safe travel.

He’s praying for growth.

“Increase.”
“Abound.”

That’s not maintenance language. That’s movement language.

There are seasons in my own walk where I think, “You know, I’m doing alright.” I’m not drifting. I’m not in open rebellion. Things feel steady.

And that’s usually when apathy quietly walks in and sits down.

Through Paul, the Spirit says, “Good. I’m glad you’re growing. Now increase.”

Not just love the people who love you.
Not just serve when it’s convenient.
Abound. Overflow. Let it stretch beyond what feels comfortable.

That reminds me of something the Lord said about Moab:

Moab hath been at ease from his youth… and he hath settled on his lees… therefore I will cause him to wander from vessel to vessel… (Jeremiah 48:11)

In Jeremiah’s day, wine wasn’t made in a single step. Grapes were crushed, juice poured into a vessel, and it would sit. The dregs — the lees — would settle to the bottom. Then the winemaker would pour the wine into another vessel, leaving the dregs behind. And it would sit again. And be poured again.

Sometimes up to six times.

Each pouring left it clearer. Purer.

The wine didn’t like being poured, I’m sure.

And we don’t either.

“I was just getting comfortable,” we say, when the job changes. When the relationship ends. When the position shifts. When the bench replaces the spotlight.

But maybe the Lord is saying, “I love you too much to let you settle.”

If we stay in one place too long, we grow cloudy. Comfortable. Dull.

So He pours us.

Not to punish.
To purify.

Paul’s prayer is that we would increase and abound in love — not stay at the same level year after year.

And why?

To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God… at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

There’s eternity in view.

Paul isn’t trying to make their lives harder. He’s trying to make them ready.

Love that increases.
Hearts that are steady.
Lives that are clear, not cloudy.

So instead of “Poor me,” maybe the better prayer is, “Pour me.”

Pour me again, Father.

If that’s what it takes for my heart to grow wider, deeper, stronger — then don’t let me settle.