Here’s the point. We are to love one another. And we are to do that in the same way Jesus did. We follow His lead. His loving us included laying down His life. And that's how we are to love one another. We are to lay down our lives so that we can love one another. So, you see, Jesus has given us the model to follow, not just in terms of the kinds of things we are to do, like washing feet. He has given us a model to follow when it comes to how to do that, the costliness of that love. Jesus calls us not just to do loving things. He calls us to die so that we can love others well.
from A New Command