To Love like Thee

#1019 Hymns—For Home and Church

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Lyrics

Verse 1

Father, I pray that I might be

The answer to someone’s prayer today.

Help me, dear Lord, to love like Thee;

Grant me charity, I pray.

Verse 2

None is so small, no soul so lost

That I should withhold my charity.

When I have served the least of these,

I have done it unto Thee.

Verse 3

Bless me, O Lord, to truly see

In each soul I meet Thy child divine.

And let the image of Thy Son

In my countenance so shine.

Verse 4

Lord, I am filled with gratitude

For blessings unmeasured, grace so deep.

Help me to freely share Thy love;

Help me, Lord, to feed Thy sheep.

The Story Behind “To Love like Thee”

Written while pondering the general conference where 'ministering' was announced — a musician's prayer to love the way the Savior loves.

Conference Homework

In April 2018, Heather D. Zurcher — a BYU-trained musician and music teacher — was listening to general conference when President Russell M. Nelson announced that home and visiting teaching would become 'ministering.' What struck her hardest was Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's charge that members could help Heavenly Father in His 'staggering task of answering prayers.'

As she pondered the conference afterward, lyrics began arriving. She built the remaining verses from scripture, and said the writing required humility, prayer, and stepping beyond her comfort zone. The result is a hymn that is itself a request: teach me to love like Thee.

A Hymn Built from Scriptures

The verses walk a scriptural path: serving God's children as serving Him (Matthew 25), receiving His image in our countenances (Alma 5), and the risen Lord's three-fold commission to Peter — 'feed my sheep' (John 21). The Church's hymn resource describes the whole as 'a prayer for heaven's help as we seek to minister to God's children.'

Zurcher kept the musical setting deliberately reverent — a prayer needs a praying tune.

Into the Hymnbook

'To Love like Thee' was released February 13, 2025, as hymn #1019 — the first hymn of the third and largest batch of Hymns—For Home and Church.

It stands as one of the new hymnal's clearest artifacts of its own era: a hymn written in direct response to a prophet's announcement, asking for the one gift that makes ministering possible.

Did You Know?

The hymn was sparked by the April 2018 general conference — the very session where 'ministering' replaced home and visiting teaching.
Zurcher was especially moved by Elder Holland's phrase about helping God in His 'staggering task of answering prayers.'
Each verse is built on a specific scripture: Matthew 25, Alma 5, and John 21.
In high school, Zurcher co-founded a children's theatre in Oregon and wrote original musicals for it.
It opened the largest release batch of the whole hymnbook project — 15 hymns on one day.

Scripture Connections

Moroni 7:45–48 — Charity, the pure love of Christ — 'pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart' to be filled with it.
John 13:34–35 — 'As I have loved you... love one another' — the commandment the hymn asks for power to keep.
Mosiah 2:17 — 'When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.'

Talk About It

Questions to spark a conversation with your family or Primary class:

The hymn is a prayer to love like the Savior. Who is the easiest person for you to love? Who is the hardest?
Elder Holland said we can help God answer other people's prayers. Whose prayer could you help answer this week?
Zurcher wrote this after pondering conference. What's something from the last conference your family could turn into action?
What would change at school or home if you saw 'divinity' in each person, as the hymn asks?

Teaching Resources

Attribution

Music by: Heather D. Zurcher, 2018 | TO LOVE LIKE THEE

Text by: and music: Heather D. Zurcher, 2018 | TO LOVE LIKE THEE

Audio files from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints