Instructing parable
Intro
Sometimes your flaws are your greatest assets.Parable of the two pots
A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole that he carried across his shoulders. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot always arrived only half full. For years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.The perfect pot was perfect for the task for which it was made, and was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After a few years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, the flawed pot spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my flaw, you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path?" That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path so that every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without your being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace my house.
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