I was a young father. I wanted some tropical fish for the kids. I really wanted them for me. I knew to be prepared. Have the tank ready before you buy the fish. I did.

I bought a used tank for five dollars. It had a leak. I fixed it. Then I scrubbed it up really good with hot, sudsy water and some strong cleaners to get the stains off the glass and slate bottom. Things were perfect.

We filled the tank with fresh water and installed a heater, which brought the water up to just the right temperature. All was great.

We bought some fish—cheap ones, and slipped them gently into the water. Within a couple of days they were all “belly up” and floating on top of the sparkling clear water. Stupid fish! The kids cried. I almost did. I was a failure.

I asked a friend who had a jillion healthy fish what I had done wrong. He grilled me. I felt like a killer. His diagnosis: I WAS a killer! The cleansers killed them. In my attempt to “clean things up,” I had destroyed the ones I was trying to preserve and nourish. I learned a lot that week.

The biggest lesson I learned was that in life, while we are trying to fix things and purge out impurities, we may, through our well-meaning but overexcited convictions, destroy the ones we proposed to love, salvage, and rescue. While you are priding yourself in cleaning out the tank, you can kill the fish. Jesus wouldn’t like that. Neither would the apostle Paul, for he said in 2 Timothy 2:24 to “be gentle unto all men.”

Remember, fish are cheap—souls are not! Please, be careful! —Tom Butterfield

“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.” —2 Timothy 2:24