Have you ever heard the story about the frog from Minnesota who wanted to escape the cold temperatures? He decided to find a way to go south for the winter.

Two nearby geese were about to start their flight southward for their annual migration. So the frog asked, “Will you take me with you?” At first, they refused. They didn’t see how it could be done. But, the clever frog devised a plan.

He convinced each of them to hold the ends of a short stick in their beaks. Then, he said he would hold on in the middle with his mouth. The unlikely threesome took off, and sure enough the frog’s plan worked.

During their flight southward, as they traveled over Indiana, a farmer looked up into the clear, blue skies. He remarked loudly, “I wonder which one of them came up with that remarkable idea!” The frog, puffed up with pride, could be heard yelling, “I didddd!” Then he plummeted to earth.

“Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall,” according to the wise words of Solomon in Proverbs 16:18. He lists the seven things the Lord hates and the first one is a proud look – seeing yourself as better than others. A New Testament writer declares, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

British author G.K. Chesterton has remarked, “If I had only one sermon to preach, it would be a sermon against pride.” Another Bible scholar believes pride is the ground from which all other sins grow.

Several years ago, a Christian music group, NewSong, recorded a song with catchy lyrics, “I, me, my, mine, pride will get you every time. Four words that spell decline, I, me, my, mine.” I think it’s interesting that the letter – i – is in the center of the word pride, since self-importance is a symptom of pride.

Benjamin Franklin wrote in his autobiography, “There is perhaps no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive. Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.” Someone once said, “No one ever choked to death swallowing his pride.”

Pride says, “My will be done.” Humility says, “God’s will be done.” Christ Jesus, being one with God, made Himself of no reputation, took on the form of a servant, and came to earth as a man. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed, “Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.” Then, He humbled Himself even further and died on the cross.

Someone once said that our Creator God may have been teaching us a lesson on pride when He made our human bodies. He designed us so it would be difficult to pat ourselves on the back.