The best way to stay strong and pure is the area of sex is to keep yourself away from places of temptation.

First of all, you can't mess up if you're not alone with someone. I call it "avoiding the scene of sin." Don't allow yourself to be in a position to fall.

If you're alone with someone, the music is playing, the fire is burning, and the lights are dim, you know what usually happens next! You just can't put yourself in that position. Think about this: If you're not there, you can't blow it!

It's like when you're on a diet, it's dumb to hang out at the ice cream store, right? You might say, "Oh, I'm not eating, I'm just looking," but if you stay there long enough, you know what's going to happen—you're going to end up partaking!

You're going to blow it! You're just asking for trouble by being there. The best way not to mess up is simply don't go there.

One thing I never do is let a man come over to my house alone. For one thing, it doesn't look good, and if I don't allow it, then there's no chance of stumbling. Notice that this next Scripture emphasizes the importance of setting the right example.

Abstain from all appearances of evil.
(1 Thess. 5:22)

Think about it this way. If my neighbors ever saw someone leaving my house at two o'clock in the morning, that would not be a good witness.

Even if nothing was happening and we were just visiting, they don't know that. We need to be a good Christian witness to those who don't know the Lord.

Source: Single and Loving It! by Kate McVeigh
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers