Each of us humans is a beloved free will program who has been written and downloaded to make decisions. Many times, we decide between good or evil, humility or vanity.
The more corrupted a human program is, the more likely he or she is to choose to think, say, or do something evil. Those who lack a sense of proportion are inclined to become corrupted by their own vanity. Vanity begins by corrupting our sense of proportion.
Since proportion is such a valuable asset to salvation, consider the actual definition of what it is that many lack:
pro·por·tion (pr-pôrshn, -pr-) n.
1. A part considered in relation to the whole.
2. A relationship between things or parts of things with respect to comparative magnitude, quantity, or degree: the proper proportion between oil and vinegar in the dressing.
3. A relationship between quantities such that if one varies then another varies in a manner dependent on the first: “We do not always find visible happiness in proportion to visible virtue” (Samuel Johnson).
4. Agreeable or harmonious relation of parts within a whole; balance or symmetry.
5. Dimensions; size. Often used in the plural.
6. Mathematics A statement of equality between two ratios. Four quantities, a, b, c, d, are said to be in proportion if a/b = c/d .
1. To adjust so that proper relations between parts are attained.
2. To form the parts of with balance or symmetry.
[Middle English proporcion, from Old French proportion, from Latin prporti, prportin-, from pr portine, according to (each) part : pr, according to; see pro-1 + portine, ablative of porti, part; see per-2 in Indo-European roots.]
pro·portion·a·ble adj. pro·portion·a·bly adv. pro·portion·er n. pro·portion·ment n.
Synonyms: proportion,
These nouns mean aesthetic arrangement marked by proper distribution of elements. Proportion is the agreeable relation of parts within a whole: a house with rooms of gracious proportion. Harmony is the pleasing interaction or appropriate combination of elements: the harmony of your facial features. Symmetry and balance both imply an arrangement of parts on either side of a dividing line, but symmetry frequently emphasizes mirror-image correspondence of parts, while balance often suggests dissimilar parts that offset each other harmoniously: flowers planted in perfect symmetry around the pool.“In all perfectly beautiful objects, there is found the opposition of one part to another, and a reciprocal balance” (John Ruskin).
So, we find the meaning of “a sense of proportion”. It involves harmony, symmetry, and balance. When we seek truth, we grow closer to harmony, symmetry, and balance. They are attributes of love and truth. Hate, on the other hand, has a “dis”, “a”, or “un” preceding proportion and its synonyms.
An example of a lack of proportion and where it leads: “I am so worried about the number of people killed by guns that I am in favor of gun control.” Proportion tells us that over a million unborn babies are destroyed by abortions compared to 35,000 annual gun deaths, 22,000 of which are intentional suicides. Proportion tells us there are 28.5 times more people killed by abortion. If we believe human life is so important we should work to save it, should we focus on abortion, or firearms?
Similar lacks of proportion encourage people to focus on animal rights, headwater management, disappearing polar bear populations, ducks unlimited, and any number of issues of peripheral importance to all but those making a living from them.
Why don’t people weigh the issues in accord with their actual proportion? For some, vanity impels them to be important in an insignificant issue, like polar bear management, rather than one of many in the pro-life cause.
Others pick causes that don’t address sins that attract them. Those in favor of fornication do not want to fight abortion because abortion allows them to sin without the consequences of paying child support.
A sense of proportion is the first victim of vanity. The human’s soul is its last.