Do you ever wonder what Christians believe? Who Jesus is, what he did and why it matters? Get answers to these questions and more.
Take the next step in your faith journey with resources on prayer, devotionals and other tools for personal and spiritual growth.
Explore resources to help you live out your life and relationships in a way that honors God.
Find resources for personal or group Bible study.
Learn to develop your skills, desire and ability to join others on their spiritual journeys and take them closer to Jesus.
Help others in their faith journey through discipleship and mentoring.
Develop your leadership skills and learn how to launch a ministry wherever you are.
View our top Cru resources in more than 20 languages.
Have some fun taking various quizzes and assessments to learn about yourself and others.
Helping students know Jesus, grow in their faith and go to the world to tell others.
Reflecting Jesus together for the good of the city.
Partnering with urban churches to meet physical and spiritual needs.
Striving to see Christ-followers on every team, in every sport and in every nation.
Equipping families with practical approaches to parenting and marriage.
Reaching students and faculty in middle and high school.
Bringing hope and resources to military families worldwide.
Volunteer abroad this year on a short term global missions trip offered by one of the best, most-reliable Christian missions organizations in the world.
Internship opportunities with Cru's ministries.
If you're looking for the best Christian jobs and careers, check out Cru's ministry job openings for full- and part-time missionaries and professionals.
Live in another country building relationships and ministries with eternal impact.
Would you like to give your time to work with Cru? We need you.
Find a Cru event near you.
Use your hobbies and interests to find the best place for you to serve.
How we seek to journey together with everyone towards a relationship with Jesus.
Answers to questions on donations, financial policies, Cru’s annual report and more.
What we believe about the gospel and our call to serve every nation.
Learn about Cru's global leadership team.
When the global church comes together then powerful things can happen.
Leading from values so others will walk passionately with God to grow and bear fruit.
Cru’s position on oneness in diversity.
Today we encounter a wide variety of questions related to sexuality and gender. As followers of Christ, we want to navigate LGBT+ questions in a way that is compassionate to people and faithful to scripture.
Showing God in action in and through His people.
Your Gift DOUBLED for Frontline Missionaries — Only Until Dec. 31st!
“Be nice so that they like you.”
I heard that phrase many times as a child. So that’s what I did. That is what I thought loving others should look like.
But you know what? That is not the way God sees it.
Yes, I know that I am called to love my neighbor as myself. Yes, I am to lay aside my rights for the sake of another as Christ did for me when He laid aside His privileges and died on the cross.
However, laying aside my rights doesn’t mean people-pleasing — that is, simply agreeing with people in order to avoid healthy conflict or disagreement. Loving one another sometimes means that I’m willing to talk about the hard things, knowing that I’m risking the other person’s affection toward me.
Isn’t this the very thing that Jesus did when He was with the woman at the well? He spoke plainly. He spoke the truth in love. He knew that was exactly what she needed, even if it meant talking about the hard things in her life.
So I love and care for others in order to help, to serve and to build them up so that they can “grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15, English Standard Version).
In a difficult relationship with a co-worker or friend, I move toward the person and bring up that uncomfortable topic. I don’t wait, hoping that someone else will do the hard work of confronting the person or that the person will just somehow move on. I choose not to wait to be vulnerable with my weaknesses, but I move in authenticity toward others. When I am the only voice in the room that sees a situation differently, I speak up. At times, even encouraging someone is a step of faith, but I do it. Every choice involves taking a risk.
What am I risking?
… being misunderstood.
… the disapproval of others.
… rejection.
At their core, these risks are about whether I feel loved and accepted.
As a leader, what is God asking me to do about it?
Desires to be loved and accepted are valid and part of being human, but they cannot be the driving force in my life. These desires cannot be the goalposts that determine my actions, either in my relationships with others or in my work.
Instead, I must purposely set aside my desires and risk moving toward others. In a meeting, I don’t shrink back and stay quiet when I know there is something that needs to be said. When a relationship is in trouble, I don’t turn away and gloss over the issue because it would be uncomfortable to talk about it.
That boils down to seeking the Lord’s guidance, then moving out in faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit to speak up and say graciously what I see and think. Then, I leave the results to God.
God has called me to be a servant leader and to set aside my own need to be loved and accepted for the sake of another. It is something I am still learning, but it has made a world of difference in how I interact with and lead others.
How about you? What has God taught you about how to love others well?
About the author: Lori Beyar has been a staff member of Cru for 23 years. She has been part of the campus ministry, and is now involved in leadership development and is on the Eastern Europe area leadership team. Lori is passionate about bringing the gospel of hope to the world by developing leaders. She and her husband, Keith, have three children, ages 13, 16, and 18. They served for 6 years in Central Asia, 12 years in Russia and are currently serving in Hungary.
What makes for a good, or even great, leader? Learn to identify the essential qualities of a godly leader from these biblical figures.
©1994-2024 Cru. All Rights Reserved.