What if we apply the same reasoning to Jesus' teaching on loving our enemies?
I have met people who act as though we are to treat our enemies better than our friends. (This does not actually have the effect of making it so that nobody is our enemies; it merely reverses who are the enemies and who are the friends.) I have met people who bend over backwards to treat their enemies well, but do not do the same for their friends or family. I have met people who go out of the way to include outsiders, but at the cost of excluding people who share common bonds with them. I have even met people who I suspect would say, "But Jesus never said to love our friends and family. But he did say to love our enemies." So what are the implications?
If we are to love our those who hate us, how much more should we love those who love us. If we are to bless those who curse us, how much more should we bless those who bless us. If we return good to those who do us evil, how much more should we return good to those who do us good. If we pray for those who persecute us, how much more should we pray for those who help us.
The method of reasoning gives solid results, and the implications are, I think, more in line with what Jesus intended: not to switch which group of people receives our love, but to include all, even our enemies.
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