But Ann didn’t count on a gossipy neighbor spotting her with a male coworker on a recent trip to Chicago. Dave carried Ann’s bags into her hotel room for her. The door shut behind them, but the neighbor didn’t stick around long enough to see Dave walk out the door a few seconds later.

The neighbor not only told everyone she knew at the homeowners’ association meeting the next week that Ann had been unfaithful to her husband, but she also spread the rumor around their church. And now Ann’s reputation is badly damaged.

Ann realizes that simply avoiding evil isn’t always enough. She now lives her life before the Lord abstaining even “from all appearance of evil” to protect not only her reputation but God’s reputation as well. These kinds of daily, ongoing decisions are critical to keeping our guard up, our consciences clean, and our testimony pure before an increasingly watching world.

If your job requires you to travel with male coworkers or meet male clients, act wisely. Ask God to protect you from temptation and from making decisions that would cause others to draw the wrong conclusions about your situation. Jesus said, “I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16.)