Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Devotion
Go deeper
"Barnabas"
The Name Others Gave · Barnabas · Aramaic · ARAMAIC
Bar-nabas — "son of encouragement" or "son of consolation" in Aramaic. This was not his birth name; the apostles gave it to him because it fit who he actually was
Joseph was his given name. Barnabas was the name the apostles gave him because it described what they experienced when he was in the room. You don't give yourself a name like that — other people do. The most meaningful names we carry are the ones given to us by people who have watched us long enough to see what we actually are. What name would the people who know you best give you today?
📖 Acts 9:26–27 · The One Who Vouched for SaulSaul had been converted on the Damascus road. He arrived in Jerusalem wanting to join the disciples. Nobody believed him. They were afraid — reasonably afraid. This was the man who had been hunting them.
Barnabas stepped forward. He took Saul to the apostles and explained what had happened on the road to Damascus. He vouched for him. He put his own reputation behind a man everyone else had written off.
Without Barnabas, Saul might have been turned away from the community that would shape him into Paul. Without Barnabas, half of the New Testament might not exist.
That is the power of a person who knows how to see what others don't yet see. Barnabas saw what Saul could become before anyone else was willing to risk the bet.
"son of encouragement"
Coming Alongside · paraklēsis · G3874 · GREEK
Encouragement, comfort, exhortation — literally "a calling alongside." The same root as Paraclete, the Helper Jesus promised; to encourage is to do what the Spirit does
The Greek root of "encouragement" is paraklēsis — from para (beside) and kaleō (to call). To encourage is to call someone alongside you, or to come alongside them. Barnabas didn't just cheer from the sidelines — he showed up next to people who needed someone beside them. This is also the word Jesus used for the Holy Spirit: the Paraclete, the one who comes alongside. Barnabas was practicing the ministry of the Spirit.
📖 Acts 11:22–24 · Sent to Antioch to EncourageNews reached Jerusalem that Gentiles were coming to faith in Antioch. The church sent Barnabas to check it out. When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he was glad — and he encouraged them all to remain faithful with steadfast purpose.
"For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith." Luke's summary of Barnabas is almost identical to his summary of Stephen. Both were full of the Spirit. The Spirit in Barnabas produced encouragement; the Spirit in Stephen produced boldness. Same source, different expression.
And a great many people were added to the Lord. Encouragement is not soft ministry. It is the thing that keeps people from giving up before the fruit arrives.
Barnabas went to Antioch to encourage — and what was already growing there grew more. Encouragement waters what would otherwise wither.
"laid it at the apostles' feet"
The Open Hand · tithēmi · G5087 · GREEK
To place, to put, to lay down — carrying the connotation of deliberate, voluntary placement; to set something down at another's disposal
Barnabas sold a field he owned and laid the full proceeds at the apostles' feet. No conditions. No earmarks. No partial giving with strings attached. The placement — at the feet — is a posture of surrender. He was not giving to purchase influence; he was giving to release control. This kind of generosity is not a financial decision first. It is a spiritual one: an act of trust that God can do more with resources released than held.
📖 Acts 5:1–11 · The Gift That Was Only PretendAnanias and Sapphira also sold property and brought the proceeds to the apostles. But they kept back part of the price and pretended to give the full amount.
The contrast with Barnabas is deliberate. Both stories involve property sold and money brought. But Barnabas's gift was complete. Ananias and Sapphira's was performed.
The issue was not the amount — Peter explicitly says they were free to keep it or give what they chose. The issue was the deception: claiming to give everything while holding something back, trying to earn the reputation of generosity without paying its full price.
Barnabas didn't need the reputation. He just gave. That is the difference between generosity and performance. One flows from love; the other flows from image management. The early church remembered both. We still do.
Declarations
- ✦ I come alongside people who are struggling, because the Spirit of God comes alongside me. (Acts 4:36)
- ✦ I give generously and without strings — what I release, God multiplies. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
- ✦ I see people the way God sees them — past the surface, into what they are becoming. (1 Samuel 16:7)
- ✦ My words build up and not tear down, because I carry the ministry of encouragement. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Prayer
Father, thank you for the Barnabas-people you have placed in my life — the ones who saw something in me worth believing in, who showed up when others kept their distance, who gave without strings. Make me that person for someone else. Give me eyes to see who is being overlooked, courage to vouch for who others are dismissing, and open hands with what you have given me. Let my life earn the name: son or daughter of encouragement. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Think about it
Who in your life needs someone to stand beside them, vouch for them, or believe in them before the evidence is complete — and are you willing to be that person?
I will practice encouragement today — seeing one person others have overlooked, and saying something true about who they are or who they could be.
Open my personal devotional →Want daily reminders on your phone? Get the Witness Health app.