Maybe the confusion is about language and translation... Greek has more words for Love than English...
What Greek words are being used to: Love your enemy?
Edit... Looked it up:
ἀγαπᾶτε agapate
Agape is the word we frequently encounter in the New Testament to describe the love with which God loves the world, loves us. Agape is, in Christianity, considered the highest love. The love of God who gives Himself away in Christ as a Servant, to serve, even to die for sinners.
That's the same kind of love we are supposed to have for our neighbors, and the love we are to show our enemies.
So there's no confusion: Jesus explicitly commands that we love our enemies.
There are other forms of love/affection, for example storge and philia, which describe different kinds of familial and fraternal affection. There is also eros, which is often confused with lust; but eros simply describes natural affection, and so is sometimes also decribed as "romantic love".
Storge and philia are fascinating. Storge is famial, it's the love a parent has for a child, or a child for a parent. Philia, in contrast, is also a familial affection, but is more intentional and purposeful.
The main difference between storge and philia, if I'm remembering correctly, is that storge exists between blood relatives naturally, whereas philia is a bond of friendship and love that comes through intentionally walking on the same path together. Aristotle (IIRC) says that philia is the greatest love, because in contrast to storge philia requires choice. You have storge with your blood relative, but you have philia with your
chosen family, the people you choose to walk with in life. Philia is often called "brotherly love", but this is only partly true. It would be more accurate to say that philia is the love between those who choose to call each other brother or sister. Unsurprisingly, then, when we see in the New Testament the call for Jesus' followers to care for each other as brothers and sisters, the language used is the language of
philia. When it comes to showing compassion, care, concern, service, etc, the New Testament calls that agape.
In Christianity we say that agape is the highest love, it is the highest love because it is the love with which God loves us and saves us in Christ. For this reason we often call it unconditional love, sacrificial love. It is also known as
caritas in Latin, from which we get the English word "charity". In fact, if you look at older Bible translations, you'll often find the word "charity" used to translate agape.
We are to give agape to our enemies, and St. Paul tells us how we can do that in Romans 12, by feeding our enemy, giving our enemy drink when they are thirsty. We care for our enemy, we show compassion to our enemy, we seek the wellbeing of our enemy. Our enemy may desire that we are hurt, or even dead; but we are to seek that our enemy is treated well, and that he live. So Jesus says that we respond to curses with blessing. We respond to persecution with prayer. We respond to oppression with compassion.
Forgiveness, compassion, kindness, and real justice comes from a place of agape.
-CryptoLutheran