At some point you likely played a match game. In order to win a match, you had to find two identical cards. If you didn’t find a match, you turned the cards over and kept trying.

As I was trying to explain to a six-year-old what it means to have a relationship with Jesus, and what it should look like in our lives, I thought about the match game.

The Christian life is like a match game.  Our lives need to increasingly match Jesus’s life and the instructions in His word. This is so that people will see Jesus in us, and want a relationship with Him.

How should our lives match Christ’s, when Jesus is our Lord and Savior?  

Here are some examples:

Believers “match” Jesus when we live in His power, pleasing Him:

Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

John 8:29: “And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

Consider what the above two verses share. God’s people, according to Galatians 2:20, live by faith in Jesus. We must be dependent upon Him. This matches how Jesus lived His life dependent and pleasing the Father, according to John 8:29.

Believers “match” Jesus when we live forgiving others, as Jesus forgave us:

Ephesians 4:29-32: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Believers “match” Jesus when we bear fruit as we serve the Lord:

Colossians 1:10: “So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

Jesus bore fruit for the Lord in every act He made while He lived on earth, culminating in the greatest work of all, His work on the cross to pay the debt for our sins. 

Believers match Jesus when we act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly with God:

Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Philippians 2:5-8: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Believers match Jesus when we…

…are generous to others, as Jesus is generous with His mercy and grace to us.

…deny ourselves for Christ’s sake, as He denied Himself for our welfare.

…pray for others, as Jesus, in John 17, prayed for us.

…love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.

…don’t make idols but keep God first in our hearts.

…honor God with praise and worship.

…honor our parents, and those in authority.

…love instead of hate.

…are truthful.

…are content.

…honor our commitments.

…you can fill in the blank __________.

When we match Jesus, people see Him. He gets the attention. We fade into the background.

When we match Jesus, people want Him. That gives us the opportunity to share the Gospel, to give the lifegiving, life changing, message of the cross. 

The process of sanctification is the process of God working, through His Spirit, in the lives of His people to transform our character so that we increasingly match our loving Savior, Jesus.

But God knows that we cannot do this in and of ourselves. If you don’t match Jesus, ask God to help you become more like Him. God wants to do this work in His people. 

What might be holding you back from becoming more like Jesus?

Want to talk about your hesitancy?  Please contact me at: ButGodCares@gmail.com.

Living for Jesus, Donna

P.S. If this has helped you, please share it with others!

Note: If the verses for Bible references do not appear when you hover over them, go directly to the website, and they should appear for you. Also, please remember to look at the full context of the verses by reading the complete passage.

Copyright 2025 Donna Shappy   All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.