The night before His death, Jesus met with His Apostles and washed their feet. This loving act by the Master — usually performed by a servant in that time — illustrated the great love Jesus had for His disciples.

He explained His actions as He told His followers: "You call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." (John 13:13-15.)

Before leaving His Apostles that night, He further explained His desire for them:

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:34-35.)

Today the Savior's words, also recorded in 1 John 4:11, are sung by children and adults alike in Luacine Clark Fox's hymn titled, "Love One Another." The words of this sweet song, as well as the scriptures they were written from, remind Church members that in order to follow Him they must love one another.

Throughout His life, Jesus demonstrated love for others as He taught the gospel, healed the sick, comforted the lonely and raised the dead. Ultimately, in His greatest act of love, He gave His life, took upon Himself "our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." (Matt. 8:17.) Jesus taught, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." (John 11:25.)

Today, Church members can become Christ's disciples as they follow His teaching, showing love one to another.

President Gordon B. Hinckley told BYU students Nov. 10 that they will find their greatest example in the Son of God. "I hope you will strive to walk in His paths, extending mercy, blessing those who struggle, living with less selfishness, reaching out to others."

President Howard W. Hunter, then of the Quorum of the Twelve, urged members in the April 1992 general conference to "walk more resolutely and more charitably the path that Jesus has shown. . . .

"This love that we should have for our brothers and sisters in the human family, and that Christ has for every one of us, is called charity or 'the pure love of Christ,' " he said. "It is the love that prompted the suffering and sacrifice of Christ's atonement. It is the highest pinnacle the human soul can reach and the deepest expression of the human heart."

In their 1995 Easter Greeting, President Hinckley and his counselors in the First Presidency, President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust, noted that above all else the world needs the gospel of Jesus Christ.

"Jesus showed us the way to peace by His example. Out of the abundance of His heart, He spoke to the poor, the downtrodden, the widows, the little children. He blessed the lame, the blind, the deaf. He taught lessons of love and repeatedly demonstrated unselfish service to others.

"In like manner, members of the Church are called upon to change our hearts, to make our outward actions conform to what we say we believe. We are asked to be kinder with one another, more gentle and forgiving. We are asked to be slower to anger and more prompt to help. We are asked to extend the hand of friendship and resist the hand of retribution. We are called upon to be true disciples of Christ, to love one another with genuine compassion, for that is the way Christ loved us."