Christians are supposed to love everyone and not to hate them. That's not easy. In away, what Mom said made the concept easier to accept. But it's still difficult because the words 'love' and 'like' are so closely connected in people's minds. That and what usually goes along with 'love'.
I think the Greeks had it right in having different words for different kinds of love. So many people hear 'love' and think of romance and sex. But that isn't all there is to it. That idea of love falls mainly under eros. There's also philia, which is friendship. Storge is the affection usually felt among members of the same family. Agape is what we must feel toward everyone. It is general affection and has been used in ancient texts to describe anything from the feeling toward a good meal to the feeling toward a spouse.
It sounds like, well, 'like.' But it's also different, at least to me. I can be sad that a bad person has been killed because they've lost their chance at redemption, but I can also be glad that they can no longer do evil things.
