To Whom Does Love Apply?

John Winthrop's A Model of Christian Charity is commendable in it's persistent theme of abundantly giving to those who are in need and treating others with love, however; I felt that there was a conflict of Winthrop's intent regarding the matter of who should receive Christian charity. In the beginning he says, [The Law of Grace] requires two things. First that every man afford his help to another in every want or distress." In this case the recipient of help is very non-specific and the message is clear, Christians should help everybody. Later in the passage he starts talking about relationships between Christians saying, "True Christians are of one body in Christ...no body can be perfect which wants it's proper ligament." which implies that only fellow Christians are eligible for Christian aid. If a part of the body is in trouble we should help that part recover from it's distress so that the body may again function as a whole. Unfortunately the Puritans of Winthrop's time lived by this exclusion policy , as they had a relatively low tolerance for people who upheld different beliefs than theirs. This is unfortunate because I believe it played into their own downfall. As individuals we are naturally different from each other. A society which requires us to all be the same can never flourish because by default we are all different.