Sort String List Alphabetically With CompareTo Method / If Else Statements - Logic Errors

I'm having trouble with sorting Strings- 3 strings inputted by user, and I would like to output them in alphabetical order. I've used the str.compareToIgnoreCase method, and then I've tried to loop them through a series of if/ else statements. Everything I've been able to find online (including the forums here) has suggested to use the Comparator class, or to put the strings into an array, and sort list- I really would like to stick with just the String class, and its methods .

The program itself works and compiles, but I am getting logic errors that I have been unable to solve. I'm using IntelliJ Idea, and I've ran it through the built in debugger, about 100+ times (not exaggerating, lol) just to see what it's doing in particular scenarios. For instance, I can get c, a, b, to print out as a,b,c correctly, but a,b,c, will print out as b,a,c.

For me this is kind of like a Sudoku puzzle, or a Rubik's cube! Each time I fix one scenario, it breaks another one, so I don't know if there's a(logic) solution to fix all possible scenarios (abc, acb, bac etc... to all print abc) or if possibly I just need more if statements. I've only pasted in the area where I'm having problems (the if statements). I'm a big fan of the "Next Line" syntax.

(Note: please assume the non relevant content- import Scanner class, main method, etc... I didn't want to paste the entire program.)

System.out.println("Enter the first statement: ");
//input.nextLine();
string1 = input.nextLine();
System.out.println("Enter the second statement: ");
string2 = input.nextLine();
System.out.println("Enter the third statement: ");
string3 = input.nextLine();

[Code] ....