loving things vs people

1 John 4:7 was something that was shared at one of the chapels while I was at camp. The verse is, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." The director for the summer (if you are a CLBC'er: the director is much like a core staff but there are only two of them for the summer). He talked about how we always say we love things but they cannot love us back and pour back into us. He talked about how often he said: I love pizza, I love this movie, etc. He went on to talk about how we should focus on relationships and especially our relationship with Jesus. He also challenged us to call each other out when they use the phrase "I love...." when it was not a person. He had each counselor with a sharpie and the campers were to mark their arm. Although i don't really think you should teach junior highers to draw on their skin with sharpie markers it was a great teaching tool. I did notice and look for how much I personally said it. I didn't draw marks on my body nor did the boys i took but we did "invisible" marks. It did open my eyes to see how often i say that i love something that was not a person and not something that can pour into me. I watched a movie with Lauren one afternoon and found myself saying it more than five times. It's something to think about, Kris