Sometimes the most important thing a man can do is believe in someone before anyone else will.
THIS WEEK
We’ve spent a lot of weeks on you— your own heart, your own marriage. This week I want to turn us outward. I want to turn us toward the men and the people around you who are waiting on something from you that you may not even realize you have to give.
Let me start with a man most people move right past when reading the Bible. His name was Barnabas.
You know the story of Saul on the road to Damascus. He was the great persecutor of the church, knocked flat on his butt and changed forever. It’s one of the most dramatic conversions in history.
But here’s the part we forget. After it happened, nobody believed it.
Saul comes to Jerusalem, trying to join the disciples. They want nothing to do with him. This is the man who held the coats while Stephen was stoned. He was the guy who dragged believers out of their homes. Now he shows up saying he’s one of them, and every man in that room is thinking the same thing: it’s a trap.
“Every door in Jerusalem was closed to Saul. And then one man opened his.”
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Here’s what Scripture says. It’s a short verse. Most people read right over it.
“But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.” — Acts 9:27 (NIV)
Barnabas took him.
Think about what that cost. Barnabas put his own reputation, maybe his own safety, on the line for a man everybody else considered dangerous. If Saul turned out to be a fraud, it was Barnabas who’d vouched for him. Barnabas would be blamed.
He did it anyway. He walked Saul into the room and said, in front of everyone: I’ll stand behind this man. I’ve seen what God is doing in him. Trust me, and give him a chance.
And because one man was willing to believe in Saul before anyone else would, Christianity got Paul. The letters. Half the New Testament. The gospel carried across the world.
“None of it happens without one man willing to say: I believe in you, and I’ll put my name on it.”
That’s a kind of leadership we don’t think about. It doesn’t require a title or a platform. It just requires a man who’s willing to see the potential in someone before it’s obvious, and to say so out loud when it costs him something.
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Here’s why this matters for you in the second half.
You are surrounded by people who are waiting to be believed in. A son who’s not sure he’s got what it takes. A younger man at work who’s talented but unproven. A guy at church that everyone’s a little wary of, who might need one person in his corner. Maybe even your own wife, carrying a dream she’s never said out loud because she’s not sure anyone would take it seriously.
You have something powerful. You have the standing that comes with age. When a man who’s been around says I believe in you — it hits differently. It carries weight a younger man’s words don’t.
You’ve spent decades earning that weight. The second half is where you get to spend it on somebody else.
DO THIS THIS WEEK
Tell one person this week that you believe in them, and be specific.
Pick one person who’s waiting to be believed in. Your kid. A younger man. Someone who’s been written off. This week, tell them that you see something in them and you believe in it. Don’t be vague. Name the specific thing you see. “I’ve watched how you handle pressure, and I think you’ve got something most men don’t.” Then, if you can, do a Barnabas — open a door for them. Make the introduction. Put in the word. Vouch. Your name still carries weight. Spend some of it on someone who needs it.
THE ANCHOR VERSE
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV)
The name Barnabas was actually a nickname. His given name was Joseph. The apostles started calling him Barnabas — which means son of encouragement — because that’s just who he was. He was the guy who built others up.
Imagine being so consistent in believing in people that they change your name to match it.
Who in your life is waiting for you to believe in them out loud? What has your silence been costing them?
THE REBOUND LETTER — FREE · EVERY THURSDAY
Know a man who needs someone in his corner?
There’s a man in your life right now who’s been written off, or who’s written himself off. Forward him this letter. Sometimes believing in a man starts with simply handing him something that says: you’re not finished, and somebody sees it.
Forward this issue to one man →
— Ron
