How can I develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

A lot of my recent thoughts have been wrapped up in how can I come to know Jesus Christ better. I want a personal relationship with the Savior and I have learned a few things that have really helped me feel closer to Him.

For me, coming to know who Christ really is, has helped me understand the importance of His role as my personal Savior. I have developed a relationship with Him as I have come to know and understand Him, as I have studied his personality and character, and as I have tried to be like Him.

President J. Reuben Clark, Jr said,  “… I am quite a believer in studying the life of the Savior as an actual personality. That is not often done. Our students of the Bible and of the New Testament,seem to refrain from trying to build a biography of the Master. …“… try to go along with the Savior, live with him, let him be an actual man, half divine, of course, but nevertheless moving as a man moved in those days.” (Behold the Lamb of God, p. 8.)Once you have begun to understand Christ’s true attributes and personality, place these
characteristics into your life. When confronted by a circumstance, ask yourself, What would Jesus do? “Many of my decisions have been motivated by [this question],” Elder Marion G. Romney has testified, “Doing what I have thought He would have done has always brought satisfaction and joy.” (“Jesus Christ, Man’s Great Exemplar,” Speeches of the Year, 1967, p. 2.) 

Really coming to know who Christ is adds more depth in the question, "What would Jesus do?". I remember a night two summers ago I was sitting in the car with my friend, Mars. We had just come back from Institute (a midweek scripture study) and we read these scriptures, 

"12 And I, John, saw that he received not of the fullness at the first,
but received grace for grace;

13 And he received not of the fullness at first, but continued from
grace to grace, until he received a fullness;

14 And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of
the fullness at the first.

16 And I, John, bear record that he received a fullness of the glory of
the Father;

17 And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the
glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him." (D&C 93:12-14,16-17)
Before that moment I had not understood who Christ really was. I knew that Christ had lived a perfect life, and was the only perfect person that has every walked this Earth. But, what I did not understand is that He wasn't born perfect. Christ grew "grace by grace", or in other words little by little, He became perfect, by choosing every day to be perfect. As we read through Christ's life we find that He was faced with temptations, and situations where he could have chosen to act differently, but He never did. 

 One story that really exemplifies who Christ is found in John 18:10–11.  Christ had just suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for the sins of all mankind, is then betrayed by one of his own disciples and is arrested. Peter, compelled by his loyalty to the Savior, cuts off the ear of Malchus a servant of the high priest. 

“And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear.

“Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

“But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” (Matthew 26:51–54).

In Luke’s account we read that the Savior healed the ear in front of both the Apostles who were with Him and the soldiers who came to arrest Him, again showing His power:

“And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

“And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him” (Luke 22:50–51).

I can't imagine how Christ must have felt, exhausted and pained from all that he felt in the garden, anguished from a betrayal from a friend, and anxious about the struggles to come. Yet, in the middle of all his pain he reached out to the servant and heals his ear.That is the  essence of Christ's character. He reaches  out when our natural man/instincts tells us to reach in and be focused in ourselves.

Really studying and focusing on who Christ is, has helped me feel a closeness that I lacked before. That knowledge has changed me, and made me love my Savior even more. Jesus Christ really does know us perfectly
because he knows what it feels like to face temptation and how to overcome weaknesses.

I found the following suggestions to be helpful in how we can daily strength our relationship with Christ. 

• 1. 1. 
     A Daily Resolve to Follow Christ’s Example. Commit yourself at the beginning of each day to emulate the Savior’s life.
     2 Timothy 1:8.
     What did Paul mean when he warned Timothy—and you—not to be “ashamed” of a testimony of Christ?
  2. 2. 
     An Organized Study Program. Devote at least twenty to thirty minutes daily to gospel study, especially a study of the scriptures.
     2 Timothy 3:14–16.
     Paul counsels that the scriptures can make you “wise unto salvation through faith.” How can you include faith in your scriptural study?
  3. 3.
     
     

     Daily Prayer. No less than every morning and evening “enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father … in secret.” (Matthew 6:6.)
     2 Timothy 1:3.
     Paul’s counsel is by example. Why is it important that your prayers, like Paul’s, reveal a compassion toward others?
  4. 4. 
     Daily Service. The Savior’s paradox remains the key to spiritual happiness: As you lose your life in service to others, you shall actually find it (Matthew 10:39).
     2 Timothy 3:17 and Titus 3:8, 14.
     Paul stresses the need for “good works” but urges that they be fruitful. In what circumstances could service be “unfruitful”? How can secrecy and selflessness enhance our works?
  5. 5. 
     Fasting. On occasions of special importance and need, strengthen your “exercise” program with a meaningful fast.
• Then Comes Confirmation by the Spirit

  Finally and ultimately, knowledge of Christ will come through revelation (Matthew 16:16, 17). The whispering of the Spirit will give your soul the assurance that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Savior, and as you increasingly take upon yourself his example and become more spiritually attuned, such knowledge will deepen and grow more real. This is part of what the scriptures define as the “power of Godliness” (D&C 84:21), for such knowledge will give you spiritual power. Truly this conviction became the rock of Paul’s testimony and the reason that he successfully endured mortality’s trials and faced death with calm assurance.

I know with everything that I have and am, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Though hard to comprehend, I know he took upon himself the sins of everyone who has ever lived. I know that He knows us on an individual basis, He knows us by name. I know that emulating His example has brought more happiness in my life than anything else. I know that He is my advocate with my Heavenly Father. I know that only through Him is repentance possible. I know He lives, and nothing will ever take that knowledge from me because the Holy Spirit has confirmed it to me again, and again. Please take the time to get to know Him, and as you do, I promise you will be filled with happiness and strength not of your own to face the trials and temptations of life. 

Visit this website to know more about your Savior: http://jesuschrist.lds.org/following-jesus-christ?lang=eng