Finding my centre
Each relationship is balanced like a seesaw; both ends must have weight, substance, or there is no relationship. It is dynamic, not static, meaning that there is communication, which may be seen in the rise and fall of each side of the seesaw. Sometimes the balance is uneven, and one end needs to carry more of the weight of life, so both people adjust, and one moves closer to the other in support. Eventually the balance will right again, then tip the other way -- a perpetual interchange.
Some of us always feel called to give. This can be dangerous: if we are always giving, we will soon be empty. What good is a seesaw that doesn't move? A Christ-like heart is giving, but is prompted by the will of God, rather than the need to be liked or needed by others. Christ spoke to crowds and ministered to his disciples and other individuals, but also found time to recharge alone in prayer.
Look at James 2:26 -- "Faith without works is dead." Where most people interpret this verse as a call to demonstrate God's love through giving, I also see it as a call to be centred, to be balanced, and to find ourselves, or we will have nothing to give when God calls us to do so. We cannot enter into relationship with everyone, so we must ask ourselves whether this is God's will, or our own vanity and need to be affirmed, that drives us to keep giving.
James 2:22
His faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
(Stops & Steps 1040 15VIII2009)