ave you ever confused “service” with “worship”? I’m ashamed to admit, but it’s happened to me.

I recall one Sunday that I taught my daughter’s Sunday School class, kept the nursery, took notes for a committee meeting, rushed home to feed my family and then turned right around to carpool them back in time for evening choir practice, followed by a group dinner. When Monday morning rolled around, I naively wondered, “Why do I feel so exhausted and spiritually bankrupt?” Surely all that church work and helping others in His name had brought me closer to God, right?

Personally, I think that women are particularly susceptible to this spiritual pitfall, as they naturally juggle so many different roles within the home, workplace, church and community. 

In Joanna Weaver’s book, “Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy With God in the Busyness of Life” (WaterBrook Press, 2000), she explains this dilemma and discusses how women can successfully strengthen their service to God and deepen their devotion with less stress and greater joy. In one example, Weaver humorously encourages her readers to visualize the optimal balance of worship and service as a “spiritual teeter-totter.”

As Christians, we are instructed to “… Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39).  When we demonstrate that belief, our actions show others the grace and love of Jesus Christ. I’ve found that once you begin giving of yourself to others as Christ commanded, the feeling is infectious and leads you to do more, help more and give more of yourself. However, that is just half of the formula for maintaining a fulfilling relationship with Christ.

If we rely on service alone as our connection to God, we can quickly feel frazzled and empty — just like a crash landing from a lopsided teeter-totter.

There is no doubt that service is important, but the key to a meaningful relationship with Christ and others is effectively balancing service with worship. We are also commanded to “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5) It is this devotion and time spent alone with God that fuels our spirit and gives us the joy that we require to do good works in his name. Sounds very much like the equilibrium of a teeter-totter in full motion, doesn’t it?

Weaver’s keen insight into how to effectively balance the two was eye-opening (and spiritually quenching!) for me. Her clever example makes me realize it is up to me to keep both parts of my spiritual life balanced. Now when I feel worn out from all the good causes and volunteering I’ve undertaken, I can better recognize the need for worship in my life. We all need to set time aside to spend with God so that we can be prepared to follow his will and look for the service opportunities that he sets before us. What a wonderful, blessed cycle that can lead to a fruitful life and fulfilling spiritual relationship with God!