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Does not this sound absurd when you think about it?   Love is the last thing that comes to mind when you think about enemies, those you fear or dread, perhaps also despise. But the word means different things (#3) and one thing it means is that to love someone means that you want for them good things: happiness, good health, a pleasant life, good fortune, in fact, whatever you want for yourself.

Loving your enemy does not mean you have to like them. If they’re neighbors, it doesn’t mean you should try to take a selfie with them. You may find their company disgusting and annoying. It does not mean you should give them credit for what they are not, for believing they are brave when they are cowardly, for attributing to them a goodness they do not have. That sort of thing would be dishonest, and if loving your enemies is a virtue, you don’t get there by practicing a vice.

The imperative, love your enemies, simply requires that you wish your enemies, those who seem to want to harm you, whatever happiness and good life you have. They may not have that and their course may be in the opposite direction, but you are to love them, to want them to have a good life no matter the existing reality. The imperative, in fact, is another working out of the Golden Rule. You want that, don’t you? You should.