06/15/2026
This week’s Mentorship Minute comes from a recent sermon titled “Built Different.” The message centered on a simple but powerful truth: you have to dig deep to build high. People often admire the outcome while overlooking the struggle, sacrifice, and discipline required to get there. They celebrate the promotion, the degree, the leadership position, the success, or the achievement, but rarely see the years of work beneath the surface. The higher the goal, the deeper the foundation must be.
That message resonated because it serves as a reminder that many accomplishments are built on sacrifices that others never see. People often see the rank, the degrees, the leadership opportunities, and the accomplishments. What they do not always see are the relationships, friendships, free time, comfort, and countless hours that were exchanged for growth. They do not see the deployments, PCS moves, difficult assignments, long nights studying, or the moments when quitting would have been easier than continuing. The outcome is visible, but the process rarely is. Excellence is often developed in private long before it is recognized in public.
The sermon also reinforced the idea that people often celebrate the fruit without understanding the roots. Every challenge, setback, disappointment, and sacrifice becomes part of the foundation that supports future growth. The deeper the roots, the higher the tree can grow. One of the most important lessons in that journey is learning not to focus solely on the next goal, but to appreciate the present season as well. Gratitude for the journey, the lessons learned, and the people encountered along the way is just as important as the achievement itself. Being “built different” is not about being better than others—it is about being willing to endure what others may never see, trusting the process, and understanding that the strength people admire today was forged in seasons they never witnessed.