Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Thessalonians 3:12

"and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we also [do] toward you;" — 1 Thessalonians 3:12 (ASV)

And the Lord make you.—The word you in the Greek is emphatic and stands first. The wish in the previous verse concerned the writers: “But you (whether we come or not) may the Lord make,” and so on. By “the Lord” here St. Paul seems to mean not only the Son: the word appears to be an equivalent for the name of God.

Increase and abound.—These words make the readers think first of progress and then of the state to which the progress will bring them—“Multiply you in love until you have enough and to spare of it”—and the same progress is expressed by the objects of the swelling charity: “So that you may not only love one another abundantly, but all mankind—missionary efforts being the supreme work of Christian love—“such loving missionary work” (the writers go on to say) “as ours among you.”