An average man had an audience with a great king to seek his judgment on a legal matter. Upon entering the palace, the man took off his hat and bowed to the king. But then immediately, the king took off his crown and bowed to the man.

After the man departed, the king's counselors asked him: "Why did you take off your crown and bow to that man? After all, you are the king and he is just an ordinary man." The king replied: "Do you think I wish to remain inferior to a common man? His humility is a superior virtue. If I had not bowed to him I would have showed less humility than he. As king, I must be better than everyone in everything. That is why I took off my crown and bowed to him."

What is the message of this tale?* Here a supposedly wise king convinced himself he was acting humbly, while not recognizing the fact of his own prideful attitude. What about you and me? Could we be allowing the prejudice of pride to distort our thinking and actions (Proverbs 14:3)?

Pride can blind an individual to the reality of his true nature (Peter 1:24). "Some people are proud of their humility," wrote nineteenth century social reformer Henry Ward Beecher. "Pride is the mask of one's own faults" states a Jewish proverb. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" says our Creator (Jeremiah 17:9).

Pride has ancient roots. The Bible reveals that long before God created humankind, pride was the catalyst for Lucifer's rebellion (Isaiah 14:13-14). A proud heart is utterly offensive to God (Proverbs 16:5). This is because pride emboldens a person to act selfishly and provoke discord (Psalms 10:2, Psalms 13:10). Pride can instigate hatred and violence (Psalms 73:6). Pride inflates one's ego just as yeast and leaven puffs up bread dough (1 Corinthians 5:6). Pride prevents an individual from acknowledging God's supremacy and authority (Daniel 5:20). Pride can lead an individual to total ruin (Proverbs 16:18).

What is the remedy for this deadly menace? It is to completely replace pride with Jesus Christ's humble nature (Philippians 2:5). The antidote for pride is to live by every word of God and the faith of Jesus (Luke 4:4, Galatians 2:20). The cure for pride is to "trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). If we diligently seek Christ's powerful help, obey His Word and trust Him fully, we can be liberated from the prejudice of pride.

* tale of the king attributed to Sri Chinmoy, "Illumination-Experiences on Indian Soil"