It is the lesson of "The Cracked Pot."

Many years ago, in a very poor Middle East village, stood an ancient stone well. Along side of that well sat two large watering pots. One of them was like new, beautifully formed, even had graceful etchings along its curved handle.

The other, not as new yet still useful,

You see, it  had become cracked over the years.

Time after time, the pot was passed over by the people with the exception of a little village girl. She had grown fond of the neglected pitcher.

Every day she would chose it instead of the beautiful pot.

One morning, the old pot asked the little girl, "Why do you continue to use me, when you know I am flawed and cannot hold the water you and your family so desperately needs?"

The little girl spoke not a word, but carried the broken pot to a familiar pathway that she traveled daily.

With her tiny voice she said, "This is why I pick you."

There before the pot was a row of delicate wild flowers that had bloomed along the trail because of the water that had trickled and leaked from the pot. The buried seeds of the flowers had been watered as she made her way home each day. The cracked pot for the first time had seen its worth through the eyes of a grateful little girl.

In order to see the task the Lord would have us  or others fulfill he has admonished us to become as little children. 

Matthew 18:4

"And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.