God loved Hitler.

A strange (and quite controversial) comment to make, I know. However, it's true. God loved him, even though he did all the things he did. He loved him massively, amazingly, even as he was killing tens of thousands of people. Just like he loved Stalin. Hussein. Genghis Khan. Even George Bush, crazy as that may seem. God loved all these people, no matter what they did, or what mistakes they made. Some of the people that many consider to be some of the worst in history.

You wonder, of course, about my point. Well, my point is this: today is Valentine's Day. It's supposed to be a day celebrating love and affection. And yet there is still so much hatred, violence, and animosity in the world. You don't even have to go to a war zone to see it. You could probably see any of those at your closest school. The thing is, we all have people that we're not particularly fond of, for various reasons. People we don't like, or even hate. And, chances are, that's not going to change any time soon.

But if God can love a person like Hitler or Stalin (even though he can do anything, so it's a bit easier for him) perhaps we could have a go at loving the people that we don't particularly like. On this Valentine's Day, perhaps we can spread a bit of love to those people that usually only receive dislike and hate. A little love can do a lot. It's hard, yes. Of course it is. But I'm willing to give it a try. Will you?