Mark Batterson writes: “Every tennis legend who has played on Centre Court at Wimbledon, from Arthur Ashe to Serena Williams, has walked under an inscription on the player’s entrance with a prophetic message to both winner and loser:

‘If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same’

That’s it – an incomplete yet powerful thought, cut and pasted from a poem by British Nobel Laurette Rudyard Kipling, entitled “If”. – The BBC named it Britain’s favourite poem.

There are thousands of promises in the Bible, the vast majority come with an ‘if’ attached to the front end. One of the most amazing ‘ifs’ is in 1 John 1:8-9, but it’s a two-edged sword that cuts both ways: ‘If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.’

If we plead innocent, we’re guilty as charged. Even the advocate can’t come to our defence. But if we plead guilty as charged, we’re found innocent and we come under God’s protective custody.”

Source: Mark Batterson, IF, 2015, Grand Rapids: Michigan, Baker Books, p.36-37, 40