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,
one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: This is another instance in which Paul uses a reciprocal pronoun to speak of a mutual responsibility among the brethren, love one another. As Jesus notes, the standard practice among the publicans was to love those who would reciprocate their love (Matthew 5:46). Even that practice is sometimes fraught with great difficulty. But as hard as it may be to love in return those who love you, it is infinitely harder to love those who are beyond the pale of the fellowship--outsiders, enemies. Growing and abounding in love toward the brethren may be a form of education for extending that same love to the "wider circle of the human race. The Christian obligation to love and to serve is not to be limited in its objects to other Christians nor does it in any way depend on the love or hate that others may show" (Hogg and Vine 107).