Winning the Off-Season
How Athletes Stay Spiritually Ready When the Crowd Is Gone
When the final buzzer sounds, the uniforms get washed, and the holiday break officially begins, most athletes take a deep breath and crash. The season was intense—physically, mentally, emotionally. Now, it’s travel, family, Christmas playlists, late mornings, and a break from structure. But spiritually? That’s where too many of us go off-duty.
The off-season is sneaky. Not because it’s chaotic, but because it’s quiet. And quiet seasons, especially around the holidays, can either grow your spiritual strength or slowly drain it. The enemy loves a distracted athlete. He loves catching you when your calendar is light, your heart is tired, and nobody’s checking for you. That’s why winning the battles nobody sees is just as important as the ones with lights, fans, and scoreboards.
As this year closes and you step into a winter break or holiday off-season, this is your moment, not to drift, but to train differently. Not to react late, but to stay ready early. Not to lose your identity in celebration or exhaustion, but to sharpen who you are as a daughter of God.
Here are six ways to do that—with your Bible open, your authority active, and your spiritual reflexes in shape.
1. Staying Ready In & Out of Season
There’s a saying in sports: championships are won in the off-season. Not on game day. Not under the lights. Not when people are screaming your name. You win because of what you built when nobody was watching. Spiritually, it’s the same thing.
Ephesians 6:10–18 tells us to suit up in the armor of God—not when the storm hits, not when we’re heartbroken, not when everything falls apart—but daily. If you only reach for your Bible when life gets chaotic, you’re reacting, not preparing.
Think of Carey. She just wrapped her sophomore year. On paper, this should’ve been a good season. Instead, life started breaking apart while she held it all together on the outside. A breakup. A best friend gone. Parents divorcing. By the time the semester ended, she was exhausted and spiritually empty. When she picked up her Bible to pack it away, she heard that still, small voice: “I could’ve helped you with all of this. I was there all along.”
Closed Bibles don’t win wars. Closed hearts don’t hear God. And waiting until you’re hurt to reach for Him puts you at a disadvantage spiritually.
You don’t wait until the playoffs to practice. So why wait until you’re falling apart to pray?
This break, this holiday off-season, is not just time off. It’s time to load up, rest with intention, and build spiritual muscle memory for the battles you don’t see coming yet.
2. Train Your Spiritual Reflexes
In sports, you don’t train for the play you expect. You train so hard that when something unexpected happens, your instincts already know what to do. That’s what spiritual discernment is.
Proverbs 2:1–8 tells us that when we seek wisdom—when we cry out for understanding and lean into God—He gives us discernment. Not the kind you post about. The kind that keeps you from walking into something that looks harmless but is spiritually deadly. Discernment isn’t just “I know right from wrong.” It’s “I know the voice of God well enough to shift when He speaks.” You don’t get that from vibes or intuition. You get it from abiding, spending time in the Word, letting the Holy Spirit sit with you, and listening before you move.
Ask yourself:
When you’re in a good season, do you still pray with intention?
When things are calm, do you ask God to show you what’s ahead?
When the year ends and your schedule changes, do you lean in or drift?
Discernment is off-season training. It’s watching film before you get blindsided. It’s walking into the holidays spiritually alert, not spiritually asleep. Because the enemy doesn’t take breaks—he waits for you to.
3. Fight With the Word
Here’s where most athletes, and most Christians, lose ground: their mouth.
If the only thing coming out of your mouth in hard times is complaining, doubt, or negativity, the enemy has already gained ground. You cannot fight spiritual battles with your feelings. Feelings don’t move hell, God’s Word does.
Psalm 119:11 says, “Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you.” But it’s not just about not sinning—it’s about not surrendering your authority.
When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He didn’t throw a fit or post a rant. He responded with scripture, out loud. That’s not churchy behavior. That’s warfare.
It’s not enough to wear a cross necklace or have a Bible app on your phone. When anxiety attacks, when temptation shows up, when loneliness creeps in over break, the only weapon that actually cuts is the Word.
Too often, we become the weapon formed against ourselves because we’re speaking everything but what God said.
So ask yourself:
What scriptures are you storing right now?
What verse are you using to fight back?
If something hit you tonight, would the Word come out or worry?
Training your mouth is part of training your spirit. What you speak reveals what you’ve stored.
4. Root Your Identity in Christ
The off-season exposes identities built on performance. When you’re not traveling, posting wins, starting games, breaking records, or in the weekly rhythm of practices and competition—who are you?
That’s what happened with Tammy. She was winning in every way—on the court, in school, in love. GPA solid. Fiancé locked in. Future lined up. Parents proud. She was so busy winning that she slowly stopped abiding. She tucked her Bible into a nightstand with the same confidence athletes have when they say, “I’ll get back in shape later.”
Philippians 1:6 reminds us that the work God is doing in us isn’t about our performance, it’s about our identity.
Confidence built on applause is fragile. Confidence built on Christ is untouchable.
Rooting your identity in Christ doesn’t mean you stop playing hard. It means you stop performing for validation. When people stop clapping, the awards stop coming, or the season ends, you don’t disappear emotionally because your worth wasn’t tied to your stats.
As the year ends, pay attention:
Do you feel less spiritual when you’re not achieving?
Do you only pray when you need something?
Are you more comfortable listing your accomplishments than your convictions?
Confidence that survives the off-season is confidence that started at the cross, not the court.
5. Remember You’re a Daughter, Not Just an Athlete
There’s a difference between knowing God and knowing you belong to Him.
Ephesians 1:4–6 says you were chosen, adopted, and accepted before you ever touched a ball, ran a sprint, or earned a spot. But too many athletes live like spiritual employees instead of daughters.
When the season slows and the year wraps up, all the roles you normally juggle—student, teammate, leader, girlfriend, influencer—quiet down. That silence should remind you who you really are. But for a lot of athletes, it exposes how little time they’ve spent just being with God, not doing for God.
Ask yourself:
When was the last time you worshiped without asking for anything?
Do you ever sit with God when there’s no crisis?
Can you rest without guilt?
Do you know what brings you joy outside of winning?
This holiday break is the perfect time to rediscover relationship over responsibility. God is not impressed by your stats; He’s invested in your soul. He’s not wowed by your discipline; He desires your devotion.
Learning to embrace your identity as a daughter gives you a steadiness no scoreboard can offer.
6. War for Your Identity
Just because the season is calm doesn’t mean the battle stops.
Some of the hardest attacks don’t come when you’re losing—they come when you’re winning. The enemy loves using success to separate you from God. He’ll let you have influence, applause, sparkle, and highlight reels if it means you’ll neglect prayer, skip your Word, and tuck your Bible away like Tammy.
Luke 10:19 reminds us that Jesus gave us authority, not just to survive, but to take ground. You can’t walk in authority and disobedience at the same time. You can’t war for your identity if you’re passive about your assignment.
Warring for your identity means:
Recognizing when “I got this” is becoming idolatry
Walking away from relationships that drain you spiritually
Obeying God even when people don’t get it
Standing on scripture when your emotions are loud
Choosing holiness over attention
Staying sharp when no one’s watching
Sometimes, the “inner me” is the real enemy. The version of you that’s tired, distracted, prideful, or procrastinating. That version doesn’t get to run your year.
You’ve been given weapons—prayer, scripture, worship, accountability—not to use when things fall apart, but to strengthen you when life is calm. War now so you don’t break later.
Closing: The Break Is Not a Break
The off-season isn’t time off from God—it’s time with God. It’s the space where you get your mind back, your authority back, your sensitivity back. It’s where you recover, not retreat.
This holiday season might look like rest, travel, finals, family drama, Netflix, or just finally exhaling. But don’t confuse physical rest with spiritual pause.
God may be calling your number sooner than you think. And when He does, He’s not looking for someone who used the off-season to drift. He’s looking for someone who stays ready.
So ask yourself as this year ends:
Where have I been reactive instead of proactive?
What weapon have I neglected?
Do I still know who I am without applause?
Where am I letting distraction replace discernment?
How will I train spiritually when classes stop and games pause?
Winning unseen battles now prepares you for the ones everyone will see later.
Stay in the Word. Abide deeply. Walk in obedience. Don’t wait for the storm to remember your strength. The off-season is not empty space—it’s sacred training ground.
And when God calls your number—whether in January, March, or five years from now—you won’t hesitate. You’ll already be laced up.