At their school carnival, our kids won four free goldfish (lucky us!), 
so out I went Saturday morning to find an aquarium. The first few I 
priced ranged from $40 to $70. Then I spotted it-right in the aisle: a
discarded 10-gallon display tank, complete with gravel and filter--for 
a mere five bucks. Sold! 

Of course, it was nasty and dirty, but the savings made the two hours of 
clean-up a breeze. Those four new fish looked great in their new home, 
at least for the first day. But by Sunday one had died. Too bad, but 
three remained. 

Monday morning revealed a second casualty, and by Monday night a third 
goldfish had gone belly up. We called in an expert, a member of our 
church who has a 30-gallon tank. It didn't take him long to discover the 
problem: I had washed the tank with soap, an absolute no-no. My uninformed 
efforts had destroyed the very lives I was trying to protect. 


Sometimes in our zeal to clean up our own lives or the lives of others, we 
unfortunately use "killer soaps"--condemnation, criticism, nagging, fits 
of temper. We think we're doing right, but our harsh, self-righteous 
treatment is more than they can bear. 

Remember Love is the way to show Jesus Christ to All you come in to 
contact with. He is the one who cleans the lives. We are simply to
introduce the Savior and let Him do the rest.