While he was close the the tennis star Chris Everett Lloyd, Mark McCormack said that if she hadn’t been playing for a while, she wouldn’t win until she became “match tough.”
She could be in the best physical condition of her life, but she still had to compete, and often lose a little, in order to get the right focus to be a champion.
Lent can help us to become match tough.
We take on new disciplines, and often fail a little. But if we do it right, then we learn to receive God’s grace in the decisive moments. That’s what gives the winning edge.
This helps us to regain focus that we can carry into the rest of the year. We become match tough in Christ.