Whenever we see my mother’s nose going red, we tease her that she is about to cry. My mother is neither overly emotional nor is she fond of crying. However, one thing is always for sure – whenever she talks about the Savior and His atonement, she easily sheds tears. I know from here how my mom would react when given a chance to a have an interview on Christ.

I grew up seeing my mother talk about the Savior and the Atonement so gratefully. I first saw her wipe away tears when watching a short movie about the Savior’s sacrifice called “To this End was I Born.” As a 5 year old girl, that scene was a bit odd to me. But as I grew up and had challenges of my own, the more I became like my mother when we talked about the Savior.

My mother seems to know the Savior too well. She loves to learn about His life and she talks about Him in a very appreciative manner. We, her children, would often be in awe of how personal her knowledge of Jesus Christ is. My mother once taught during a Sunday school class for young women and I can clearly remember when she asked us “What is the difference between knowing about Christ and knowing Christ?” Sometimes, I ask myself “Do I personally know the Savior and not just facts about Him?” At a young age, it seemed that these two things were the same. When found in an interview on Christ, can I answer a deep personal understanding of who He is to me or can I only give a borrowed belief from others.

Knowing the Savior Personally

Knowing about the Savior increases our appreciation of His mighty miracles and the Atonement that He performed. Knowing the Savior can increase comfort and hope that miracles can and do happen to our lives and that Atonement was performed because He personally loves me even unto sacrificing His very own life. This personal connection with Christ is something we need to discover to deliver deep responses and emotions when in an interview on Christ.

In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin, a righteous and compassionate leader, invited everyone to be immovable in good works in Christ. He advised that our actions can lead us to know and to know more the Savior through obedience and service. He said, “For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?” (Mosiah 5:13). Personally knowing Christ means personally acting His commandments in our lives.

“I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.” John 10:14

For a time, I wondered, if I had the chance to have an interview on Christ, can I confidently say I know Him enough? Will I know Him enough to answer these 3 questions an interviewer will ask me?

1. Did you trust His Atonement?

Have I, in this life, truly trusted in the grace and enabling power of the Atonement? Have I fully let the Atonement take effect in my life?

I cannot name all the times that I have felt the hand of the Atonement in my life. Every event, good or bad, has strengthened my appreciation for the sacrifice of the Savior. I hope that when the Lord asks me if I trusted in the Atonement, I will be able to say that I did. I pray that I can say that when life’s challenges drove me to my knees, I learned to stand back up because I knew of Him, His sacrifice, and Heavenly Father’s Plan of Happiness.

2. Do you love Him?

Have I really loved the Savior? Have I really shown it to Him?

President Thomas S. Monson quoted a beautiful line from William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”

One of the most profound ways to express love for the Savior is found in Matthew 25:40 when Jesus said “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

I may not know if I’ve truly touched lives in this world, or even just made one person’s life a little better. But I hope, when the time comes, my answer would be a trembling “Yes,” I hope the Savior would see a life that has tried to make someone smile, a life that was “willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as [a witness] of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9.)

3. Whom say ye that He is?

Can I, like Peter, confidently answer the Savior “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God,”? Have I, in this life, done enough to gain a testimony that He is indeed the Savior and Redeemer of the world? Did I draw near enough to Him in this life to recognize His tender mercies and the workings of the Atonement?

I may not know until then what it will be like to stand before the Savior and have an interview with Him or what it will be like when someone without a Christian background will have ask me to have an interview on Christ. It is my prayer that I will be able to firmly say that I trust in His atonement, that I love Him enough to serve my brothers and sisters, and that I believe He is my Christ – my Savior. I pray the same firm relationship for everyone with Jesus Christ.