You cannot expect victory and plan for defeat.

The line expresses a core theme in Osteen’s motivational preaching: mindset and expectation shape behavior. To “expect victory” is to adopt a posture of faith, confidence, and forward movement; to “plan for defeat” is to hedge in ways that quietly assume failure—by holding back effort, avoiding risk, or building an exit strategy that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The quote is not a denial of prudence so much as a critique of living from fear. Its significance lies in the tension between preparation and belief: it urges aligning one’s plans with one’s stated hopes, so actions reinforce rather than undermine the outcome one seeks.