Whom Say Ye That I Am?

By Elder Damon Page

Area Seventy

“But whom say ye that I am?”¹

Jesus posed this question to His closest friends, who had spent three years by His side observing His actions and listening to His teachings. Peter answered definitively, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”²

Peter’s testimony of the Saviour Jesus Christ is shared by hundreds of millions of the pure in heart across the world, from many generations long past, through to us in the current day.

The significance of a testimony and knowledge of Jesus Christ’s divinity is clear from His own Intercessory Prayer to the Father whilst pleading on our behalf, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”³

I recall a powerful spiritual impression as a young man serving in the Russia, St. Petersburg mission. I was listening to President Howard W. Hunter when he declared, “We must know Christ better than we know him; we must remember him more often than we remember him; we must serve him more valiantly than we serve him.”⁴

More recently President Russell M. Nelson asked us to consider, “How do you hear Him?”⁵

The significance of this question lies in where the answer leads each of us. As we hear Him, we come to know Him, as we come to know Him, we can fulfil His purposes and qualify for all that He promises. We each hear Him differently. I hear Him as I strive to do what He would do were He present among us, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to take a stranger in, to visit the sick and those in prison and to visit the fatherless and widows.⁶

A number of years ago, I felt inspired to commit to actively reach out to minister and to lift somebody every day. I do this through a phone call, a text message, an email, a personal visit or through some act of service or giving. Some days it is easy to identify ministering opportunities and some days I prayerfully seek to know who I can reach out to. I have found that by taking the time to focus on the needs of others, my personal challenges seem lighter, and I am happier. Interestingly, as I actively seek opportunities to assist and serve others I am regularly inspired to cross paths with families and individuals requiring assistance, who in turn become friends and a blessing in my life.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides us with many opportunities to do the Saviour’s work, both formally and, more importantly, informally. We “should be anxiously engaged in a good cause and do many things of [our] own free will”⁷. We can actively fulfil our Church assignments, treat our families with tenderness, mow our neighbours’ lawns, pay for a stranger’s meal, buy a gift for a young couple or family, comfort those grieving, visit the sick and elderly, contribute our time, money and resources to worthy causes and spread kindness and love.

As we strive to overcome our natural self-centred inclinations and become more like Jesus Christ, we become a better husband, wife, parent, child and person. We develop Christlike attributes of patience, love for our families and those around us, kindness and charity, and we recognise and strive to meet the needs of those around us. The pursuit of material possessions, self-indulgent entertainment and the honours and praises of others becomes far less significant. The gospel of Jesus Christ, without doubt, makes me a better husband, father, colleague and contributor to our wider community. The gospel of Jesus Christ and His Atonement provide me with perspective, purpose and direction.

The Saviour wants to be known, He declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”⁸ He invites us to “come, follow [Him]”⁹ and to “come unto [Him]”¹⁰ that we might find rest from our burdens.

While the world again seemingly prospers and becomes more secular, and many declare there is no God or He cannot be known, our response to His question has the power to change and lift each of us individually and those around us: “But whom say ye that I am?”

May we strive to live the gospel of Jesus Christ and do His works that we too might know and confidently declare that He is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”