By the time the Wright brothers had spent some time in France in endeavors which involved training the first French pilots, they had become a sensation all over Europe. Dignitaries were traveling to the south of France just in the hope of getting a chance to see Wilbur Wright take the Flyer up on a demonstration, or a training flight.
These visitors included aristocrats, millionaires, and even England’s King Edward and his royal entourage. Both Wilbur and Orville, as well as their sister, Katherine, spent many months there in France, in the company of all these influential personages. The French people who got to know the Wright family, were quite astounded at the fact that their success and new found international fame had done nothing to alter the character of any of them.
Their father, a Brethren church pastor, had instilled in them characteristics drawn from Scripture, such as humility, integrity, and patience, persistence and hard work. Both brothers gave credit to their father and their sister, as being much of the reason for their own successes, and the family remained very close throughout all their lives.
Too often, any success we experience in our lives is followed by some measure of pride or boastfulness, which is unbecoming. We need to remember what the Lord Jesus said in John 15:5, “for without Me, ye can do nothing.” When you hear your children or grandchildren boasting about some accomplishment or ability, it’s an appropriate time for correcting them and instructing them, pointing out that even if what they are saying is true, the sin of pride is what makes us want to be boastful.
Psalm 138:6 Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.