May 20

1 Thessalonians 3:12 (NIV)
12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.

The two different words used for increase and overflow have subtle differences. They both mean to have abundance or to increase. It is like the Spirit of God is saying have an ample overflowing supply and then increase upon that! What a picture! It is like your cup is running over and then more is added to that. Please notice who it is suppose to be directed toward, each other and everyone else. Again, these two words represent an over the top description of EVERYONE. There is no picking and choosing who to love or be kind to unconditionally (agape love) with the Kingdom mindset. Yes even those people who we don’t necessarily “like” we will love if we let the love giver take over or heart. Imagine having God give you a vegetable plant for you to tend and after tending it for a while, you decide that you don’t like it so you stop tending it. You thought it wasn’t producing enough fruit and it wouldn’t be worth your effort. However, if you would have just given it more care – for a little while longer – it would have produced a good crop that would have fed many – including yourself! The Lord will certainly make our love increase and overflow if we let Him. It is only when we have decided NOT to honor our new man, our new spirit, us as the new creation to love someone, that we don’t. The Spirit of God is calling us, purposing us to be such extravagant lovers of men and women that there is no chance they won’t feel it and be drawn by it. This is who you are, let it flow – in fact, let it overflow!