As a child growing up, I could never understand my mother always calling my father honey. Not once did I ever hear her call him Morris. Most of you probably know my story about being raised in a terribly abusive home. That atmosphere of abuse was created by my father who was mean to everyone.

I know many couples have pet names that they call each other, but somehow honey did not match my father. If my mother saw my father in a rage or saw him being abusive to one of his children, she would sometimes say, “Honey, stop that.”  It just never seemed to fit. He was anything but honey, especially in those moments.

I discovered that his siblings also called him honey. What?! That is strange coming from sisters and really strange coming from brothers.

Finally, one of my uncles explained to me why my father was called honey. When he was a little boy, he loved honey. He saw a beehive in a tree and thought surely there must be a treasure of honey. He proceeded to climb the tree, reach out to the hive, and chaos quickly ensued. The residents of the beehive began to swarm around him, leaving many stings on his body. His siblings thought this was so funny, and from that point on, he was known as honey.

Nicknames are quite interesting if we know the stories behind them.

One of the best nicknames in scripture was given to a man and is recorded in Acts chapter 4:34-37.

“There were no needy people among them because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.”

A man named Joseph (some translations say Joses) had an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ and it was life changing. As we are introduced to him, we are told that his real name is Joseph, but he was given a nickname by others in the church. That name was Barnabas which means son of encouragement. Barnabas was an encourager.

Take the time to read all the places where Barnabas is mentioned in scripture. I will not list them all here, but a search on the Internet will reveal what the Bible says about Barnabas. What we find is that Joseph was such an encourager that the church just began to call him Barnabas. He embodied encouragement.

We all need to be such encouragers that people could replace our names and call us Barnabas. Why does this matter? Because encouragement changes people and builds them up. “Anxiety in a person’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up” (Proverbs 12:25). Words can heal. “No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29).

We are still very early in the year 2026. Be an encourager this week and in the coming weeks. These are just a few suggestions on how to be a Barnabas this week.

1. Pick two people to pray for every day this week and send them a word of encouragement each day this week. It can be a scripture or your own words of encouragement.
2. Tell someone about the good things you see in them. You can tell your spouse, your friend, your pastor, or even your dentist. I am going to my dentist this week, and I am already formulating a few encouraging words for him.
3. Do something tangible for a person who is under a heavy load. Take them a meal. Help them with a chore. Ask if you can stop by to pray for them or pray for them over the phone. There are so many helpful things we can do with those under a heavy load.
4. Find someone new in church and make it a point to greet them every week. Invite them to sit with you. Sit with them. This is similar to what Barnabas did with Saul after Saul’s Damascus Road experience.
5. Guard your posts on social media. Lots of things in this life can irritate us. This week, post something every day that is encouraging – a scripture, a song, your own words.
6. Give to meet the legitimate needs of another. That was the first thing we read about Barnabas did. He gave to meet the needs of others in the church.

There are so many things we can do and say to become a more encouraging person. A commitment to encourage others challenges us all to lift the countenance of someone else — no matter what we might be facing ourselves. As we offer encouragement to others, we can trust that God, in His sovereignty, will encourage us. This is the principle described in Proverbs 11:25, “… whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (NIV).

I know my name is Barbara, but I sure do hope my nickname will become Barnabas because nicknames can say a lot.