"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." - 1 John 4:7

 Each month, all of our students study a verse in their classes. For the month of September, Twirl classes will be reading Philippians 4:4 — Look for a specific Bible study on that next week! All other classes will be reading 1 John 4:7: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”

 As God’s children, we are all Beloved, dearly, and truly loved and chosen by God. And out of the love of God, we are called to love others. This month, we want to encourage all our students to grow in understanding how much God loves them and to learn ways they can love others.

 The word Beloved in Greek is agapetos, which is from the root agape or to love. C.S. Lewis talks about Agape in his book The Four Loves.

 “So there are 4 kinds of ‘love,’ all good in their proper place, but Agape is the best because it is the kind God has for us and is good in all circumstances. There are people I mustn’t feel Eros towards, and people I can’t feel Storgë or Philia for; but I can practice Agape to God, Angels, Man, and Beast, to the good and the bad, the old and the young, the far and the near. You see Agape is all giving, not getting. Read what St. Paul says about it in First Corinthians Chap. 13. Then look at a picture of Charity (or Agape) in action in St. Luke, chap 10 v. 30-35. And then, better still, look at Matthew chap 25 v. 31-46: from which you see that Christ counts all that you do for this baby exactly as if you had done it for Him when He was a baby in the manger at Bethlehem: you are in a sense sharing in the things His mother did for Him. Giving money is only one way of showing charity: to give time and toil is far better and (for most of us) harder. And notice, though it is all giving—you needn’t expect any reward—how you do gets rewarded almost at once.”

 Agape is a picture of the love that is all-encompassing and generous. Out of agape, Christ created all things. And we are agapetos, or Beloved. We are totally and completely loved, just as we are. Isn’t that wonderful?

 Sometimes we might feel lonely or overlooked, and yet God loves us.

 Sometimes we might feel broken or unloveable, and yet God loves us.

 As we follow Christ, he calls us to respond to His love by loving others. We are loved, and so we love. As the old hymn says, they will know we are Christians by our love. Even when we don’t like someone or don’t know someone, we can feel a generous love for them. We can do this because we know that God created them special and loves them, too.

 Sometimes we might feel frustrated or angry with others, and yet God calls us to love them.

 Sometimes we might not know how to respond to someone we don’t understand, and yet God calls us to love them.

 This month, as a family, why don’t you find a way to share agape?

 Try taking some art supplies and sit down and think of those who may need some extra love. Maybe grandparents, or friends, or even those who are stuck at home who might be sick or unable to see loved ones right now. Create some little cards with words of kindness and caring. And then mail them! Your little cards will bring joy to others.

 You could also bake some cookies or your families’ favorite baked goods, wrap it up, and share it with your neighbors. If you have any leftover art supplies, you could include little cards of encouragement for them, too.

 Contribute to our Care and Share food drive, either in the studio lobby or online to love those who are hurting in our community.

 Or come up with something unique and special just for your family!

 If you want to share what your family does, take some photos, and share it on Instagram. Make sure you tag up @turningpointedancecolorado. We can’t wait to see what you do!