In 2019, founder Jcruz Gudino was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis — a rare neurological disorder that attacked his spinal cord and changed the trajectory of his life overnight. What began as a physical battle quickly became a spiritual one. The diagnosis forced Jcruz to stop performing faith and start practicing it — every belief he held had to become action.
Rather than retreating, he leaned in. Relearning how to live in a body that no longer responded the way it once did revealed a dimension of self-discipline and stewardship he'd never encountered — discipline that carried him to the 2021 CrossFit Games, where he competed as an Adaptive Athlete and took 2nd place. It wasn't just a podium finish. It showed him what Spirit-led self-control looked like in real time.
In 2022, Jcruz and his family left California for South Carolina — not for a job or an opportunity, but because God was calling them deeper. In that season of stripping away the familiar, he began to understand what intimacy with Christ actually meant: not information about God, not church attendance, but relationship.
It was not until 2025 that Jcruz looked back and saw the pattern clearly: Transverse Myelitis had worked on his character and belief. The move to South Carolina had revealed his relationship with Christ. The CrossFit Games had demanded self-control of him. Three chapters of his life. One ancient text — 2 Peter 1:3–11. Since 2025, Jcruz has used his story as a testimony, teaching, and discipling churches and small groups to help them grow and make a difference in the lives of those around them.
Sharper Together was born from that revelation: the conviction that the progression Peter describes isn't a theological outline but a lived reality — and that people need more than information to walk it out. They need a coach. They need a community. They need a mirror.
Jcruz now travels the country sharing his story with churches and leadership development conferences. If you would like to have Jcruz speak at your church, organization, or conference, please email jcruz.g@sharper2gether.com.
