Question:
What does it take to personally know God and Jesus Christ and to have a personal relationship with them?

Answer:

Thanks for the thought-provoking question. I remember when I was a child getting into verbal arguments with other children. Often there was name-calling involved. The standard response was “It takes one to know one!” That generally ended the argument. Over the years I have come to the conclusion that that answer is not entirely incorrect in an eternal perspective. Mormon, in explaining charity to his son, Moroni said: “And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail--
But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen” ( Moroni 7:45-48).
Then the more of the attributes the describe God that we incorporate into our lives, the more we become like Him. The more we become like Him, the more we know Him because we are like Him. When He comes again those who have incorporated those Christ-like attributes into their lives will recognize Him immediately.
Remember the Savior teachings of the separation of the sheep from the goats at the Second Coming? In Matthew 25:34-40. Those who were numbered among the sheep were surprised because (apparently) none of them recognized that they had seen the Savior: “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
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.”
The formula for getting to know God and Christ is fairly easy—just do what They do. You will recall in Acts 10:38 Luke describes the Savior: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” It isn’t in a single act that we become Christ-like. It is daily going about “doing good.” You may not even recognize when you have helped to “heal those oppressed of the devil” by merely talking with them, encouraging them, spending time with them, giving them hope, and leaving everyone better than you found them. In doing these things you will find that God will be with you just as He was with Jesus.
I think there are times when we want to make coming to know God some mystical event or transcendent spiritual experience. As you noted in Matthew 25 quote, it was in the little daily things, unheralded, unrewarded, usually unnoticed that the sheep became sheep. By ignoring those little things over a lifetime, the goats became goats.
Think about your friends here on earth. Who are they? Are they not people you spend time with, have similar interests, text each other, do social things together, help each other when help is needed, etc.? Then King Benjamin’s question is relevant: “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).
That certainly is one reason why the Lord, the Scriptures, and the Brethren encourage us to spend time daily in the Scriptures and in fervent prayer. Perhaps that is why the Prophet Joseph Smith, in concluding his remarks about the Second Comforter (i.e. the personal visitation of the Savior—and at times the Father—see Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith pp. 149-151) said this: “The Spirit of Revelation is in connection with these blessings. A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.,) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.”
Rather than seeking for a single event, why not adjust your focus so that you can keep God and Christ involved in your life every minute of every day. Then They become your “friends” (see D&C 88:62) and when that times comes for you to re-enter Their presence (whether that is during your mortal life or when you die) you will see that you have become like them and then you’ll realize more fully than ever the truth of that childish statement: “It takes ones to know one.”

Bro. Bott