Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  --Matthew 7:1-3

Sir Percival Lowell was an author, mathematician, and the world’s most distinguished astronomer during the late 1800s and early 1900s. But Lowell was best known for his speculation that canals existed on Mars.

In 1877, he heard that an esteemed Italian astronomer had seen straight lines crisscrossing the red planet’s surface. As a result, Lowell spent the rest of his years squinting into the eyepiece of a giant telescope, mapping the channels and canals that he saw.

He was convinced that there was life on Mars, even an older and wiser race than humanity. As a result, his observations gained wide acceptance.

Today, we know space probes that have orbited and landed on Mars show there are no canals on the Martian surface. So how could Lowell have been mistaken?

There are two possible reasons: 1) he wanted so badly to see the canals that he convinced himself he did, and 2) we now know that he suffered from a rare eye disease that made him see the blood vessels in his own eyes. The canals he saw on Mars were nothing more than the veins in his eyeballs. Today, this disease is known as “Lowell’s syndrome.”

When Jesus warned that “in the same way…you will be judged” and cautioned about missing the “plank in your own eye”, do you think He could have been referring to a so-called spiritual Lowell’s syndrome?

Again and again, we see faults in others because we don’t want to believe anything better about them. And many times we think we have a clear view of their shortcomings when in fact our vision has been distorted by the plank in our own eyes. May we never judge others, but always commit them to the Lord in prayer.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Ask God to help you recognize the “planks” in your own eyes before judging others and see the good He has created in them.