What is the Motive

In Gospel of John 12, we encounter a powerful contrast that reveals more than actions—it exposes the heart behind them.

Mary pours out extravagant worship at the feet of Jesus, holding nothing back. Judas, on the other hand, questions the act—not because he cares about the poor, but because his motive is hidden, self-serving, and misaligned. Two responses. Two hearts. One question:

What is the motive?

In this video, Lois Flewelling invites you to look beyond outward actions and into the deeper place of intention. Why do we do what we do? Are our choices rooted in love, surrender, and devotion—or are they influenced by fear, recognition, control, or hidden agendas?

With biblical insight and spiritual clarity, this message challenges you to examine your own heart posture before the Lord. Because God is not only looking at what we do—He is looking at why we do it.

This teaching will help you:

Discern the difference between true devotion and disguised motives
Recognize areas where the heart may be divided
Realign your intentions with truth, purity, and surrender

When your motive is pure, your worship becomes powerful.

If something stirred in your heart today, don’t stop here.
Healing is a journey, and you don’t have to walk it alone.
You can find additional resources, the Thriving & Wholeness Series, and online courses designed to help you move forward at www.loisflewelling.com.
This is your invitation to step into deeper healing and lasting freedom.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Thinking about this season and what's going on, and every single thing that's happening in the world, everything that um does cause some confusion, doesn't it? Causes us to wonder what is taking place. But I want to show you something out of John 12, and I want to show you the battle that has taken place, and I want to compare it to the battle that has taken place today. The battle may be in your life, it may be in your community, it may be in your country, but I want you to show, I want to show you some things. And I want you to think about what is the motive here? What's going on with these motives that are going on? So let's start with verse one. It says, Therefore, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made him a dinner there, and Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. Mary then took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, the one who intended to betray him, said, Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denari and the proceeds given to the poor people? Now he said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. And as he kept the money box, he used to steal from that which was put into it. Therefore Jesus said to him, Leave her alone. I'm going to say this again. Leave her alone. So she may keep it for the day of my burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. I'm going to continue on and then I'll kind of talk about this. The large crowd of the Jews then learned that he was there, and they came, not on account of Jesus only, but so that they might also see Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead. But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus. So let's just stop there for just a minute because I'm going to go kind of through the whole chapter. But I want to talk about right and wrong motives. You got Mary, she wants to anoint Jesus. She goes and spends her money on a perfume so that she can anoint him. See, I wonder, I don't think she realized, I don't think she understood that he was, this was prophecy, this was what was going to take place in advance. I don't think she knew that, but God had prompted her heart to go and do something. For this man, I'll say man, because to her, he was a man at this point. She recognized him as Savior. But what she noticed was this person had delivered me. This person had cast out tons of demons out of me. This person changed my life. And I want to give back. I want to show him my gratitude. I want to show him of what he's done for me. And then we know that he says here, so she can keep it for the day of my burial. Jesus understood her heart. Jesus knew what was going on, but he also understood her motive. Her motive was, you know, I want to serve you, Jesus. I want to give back to you something that you've given me. You gave me my life. And so she, God sees her, I mean, Jesus sees her, he understands this. But he says something interesting here. He goes, for you'll always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Interesting, isn't it? I'll let you ponder on that one a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Wrong motive. Yeah, Judas. Judas, now he's sounds great, doesn't he? Oh, why are you putting all that money into him? Why are you doing that? When we could give it to the poor. How often do you hear people saying things like this? How often do we hear, oh, you should not have anything, you should remain poor. You can't have money at all. Pastors can't have money. Leaders can't have money. We've been we've been told this. You're supposed to live a poor life. See, it's a false. There's a falseness there. Jesus didn't call us to be poor all the time. It's a wrong type of thinking that just came out of man. It's okay to have things, have money. And you know why it's okay? Because then you're going to give back out to those that are needy. I won't go into all of that either. But he goes, Oh, we're supposed to give it to the poor. Whoa, sounds great. But what was his motive? What's the motive behind these things? And if we need that discernment to see what is the motive? Is your motive really, truly, to give to the poor? His wasn't. And we're finding places now that are falling left and right because their motives were wrong and God is exposing the wrong motives. They just want people to give money to them in disguise of I'll help the poor. I knew this was going to be a hard, hard message, but it's a message that God put on my heart. That we have to begin to see through some of these things and have a right motive for God and stop complaining and stop judging everything but taking it right straight to the Lord. What does this mean? What is the person's motive for why they're doing and why are they saying this? Because we can have our wrong theology come through. We can have our wrong teachings that's planted in there, and we can think, oh, that's absolute truth, and it's not. So we've got we've got him. We've got Judas. It's got some wrong motives there. Then you go if you want to take a look at the crowd. Oh, the crowd says, Oh, I want to go there. I want to, I want to go see. I want I desire to go see Jesus. But you know what they're really going after is the miracle. Oh, Lazarus got raised from the dead. Lazarus was brought back to from you know to life. And so this crowd starts going because of two reasons. Now, do they have a right motive? I hope so. If you're going places because of the miracle, I hope is to see Jesus, not just to see the action things. Do you understand what I'm saying? We're going to all these different places. Whether it's mediums, whether it's to see the whatever. What's your motive? Is it pure? Are you really want to meet Jesus? I'm going to give the crowd the benefit of the doubt and say, yeah, I think they wanted to see Jesus. They wanted to get to know him. You know why I'm saying that? Because the Pharisees had it had the wrong motive and they were worried. In fact, it shifted their whole thinking. Oh, we were going to go and kind of get rid of Lazarus for good this time. Why? Because Lazarus was telling and sharing too many people about Christ. Jews were starting to believe. It said, because on account of him, many of the Jews were believing in Jesus. So there is a crowd there. They're starting to say, oh, I'm beginning to see Jesus. And they're going. They're going for it. It's interesting. I was watching a little bit of the news. I only watch a little bit because I can't tolerate too much of it. But it had a whole thing on about the Catholic Church and the amount of young people that are coming into the Catholic Church. It's interesting because here's the motives. Number one is they're tired of everything else and they want to find faith. And number two, they're meeting before and they're meeting after, and they're doing all these other things. You know why? Because they want to meet somebody that they can be with. Motives. Motives. Now, do I think it's good motives? Sure. If they're looking for Jesus, then go right after it. And if they can find Jesus, and if you have thinking that all Catholics are wrong, you better really start think rethinking that because there's a lot of Catholics that really have a deep, strong faith in the Lord and are doing mighty things. Don't believe the lie that they're this or that, or whatever else, whatever other denomination is out there. Here's the thing. We know the Pharisees really had the wrong motive, didn't they? Number one, they're out to kill whoever is spreading the news about Jesus Christ. And you have you watched this? Look what's going on social media today. It is awful how they're going after so many different uh Christian people and slandering, putting it out there, twisting it up and lies and all these things. Some of it's true, but I don't believe all of it's true. It's a way to get you to pull away from your faith, pull away from Jesus. What's happening in some other countries right now? I know in Australia they're coming down hard against the Christian people. Some countries, you can't even, they're passing laws. Canada just passed a law. Is the persecution beginning? How will you stand? What will your motive be? See, the Pharisees, they were the ones that they thought they had the truth. I mean, oh yeah, they've studied hard in the Bible, they've studied hard in the law. They thought, you know, I've got the truth, I know it all. Have you met some of those kind of people? The arrogance that they've got theology and they've got the law and they've got the tradition and all of this, yet they lost sight of the absolute truth and allowed hatred and deception to enter instead. They couldn't even see that Jesus was the Savior. And remember, this is before, this is during the Passover, right before he died on the cross. Big battle going on here. Big battle. So if we go on here, if we go down, I'm gonna, I'll read a little bit more if you're okay with this. On the next day, when the large crowd had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him and began shouting, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, indeed the king of Israel. And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it, as it is written, Do not fear, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt. These things his disciples did not understand at first. But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered these things were written of him, and that they had done these things for him. Now, listen, we may not understand everything that's going on today. Don't think you will. You may have your opinions, but I'm telling you, not even the disciples, the ones that were closest to him, really understood it all until after, until later. But our key is we have to stay so tuned in to with Jesus so that we can hear, we can know, we can sense things. Too often we're so quick to call to speak out the judgment against it or against individuals. But do we really know how God is using those particular people? Do we really see beyond what's right here? I don't think so. They couldn't even see it. Then he says, Verse seventeen. So the people who were with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify about him. For this reason also the people went to meet him, because they heard that he had performed this sign. Now I know God's gonna do some great signs. I'm trusting that he's gonna do them even right here in this place and in this community and in the state of Maine. I believe it. Canada. I believe it. And yes, they're gonna say, What's going on there? What's happening there? There's a sign. Let's go see what's happening. But they're gonna meet Jesus there. It's not about the person that his that Jesus decided to flow through for that. It's gonna be they're gonna meet Jesus. Motives. When we have the right motive, when we honor Jesus and give it all to him, then he can use us in those great and mighty ways. So the Pharisees said to one another, You see that you are not accomplishing anything? Look, the world has gone after him. So the old religious society, the ones that are telling us all these things, you got to go by the this law and that law and this and that, and you can't, you can't, you can't. All of a sudden they're saying, huh, that's not gonna work. And I'm telling you, I'm beginning to see this to come to fruition in the world today. They're overlooking all that, they're going, the whole world is coming after Jesus. Now, I haven't quite figured it out yet, but on social media, have you noticed all the celebrities supposedly coming to the Lord? Is it is it true? Now here I am. We have to discern those things. I'm not judging it, but I often think, wow, when they've been in such deep darkness, and now they're presenting as why is the motive right that they truly are finding Jesus in the midst of a very dark place? Or is it because it's a going thing to do right now? I don't know. I don't know, but I've noticed it. Now, let's go on. There were some Greeks. Now we've got some Greeks, okay? This is in verse 20. There were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast. Now, these people then came to Philip, who was from Beseda of Galilee, and were making a request of him saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. But Jesus answered in a very unique way. Now, here's some Greeks. Oh, look. I'm just coming up to kind of attend this feast, and I'm hearing all these things about Jesus. Here's the motive. Is their motives pure? Huh? Probably. I want to see what's going on. So here we have them, but Jesus says this in verse 23 and 26. Okay? It's a I think it's an unusual answer. He says, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to an eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, they're my servant, and will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. All of a sudden, you got Greeks coming to talk to Jesus, and Jesus is saying this. He's speaking to Philip and Andrew, the two disciples that came to him. Now we understand the principle behind this, at least I hope you do. We know that seeds get placed into the ground, and often it will appear like they're dead. But then it starts to sprout, and then something happens. It starts to bear fruit. I don't know. I guess I've been thinking about motives, and I wonder if Jesus was wondering here, I wonder what their motive is for wanting to see me. Do those Greeks see me as the King of Kings? Someone who truly believes and in their heart desires to give back honor and love? And here's the thing.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

Jesus is saying What's our motives? Do we truly believe?

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Just so I can get to heaven someday. Or do I truly believe And want to give up my life for Jesus. Now we know Mary Magdalene literally gave up her life. In fact, if you go into Israel, there's a building with pillars like these, much bigger pillars. And they're beautiful. The building is beautiful. And each pillar has something around it. And on each pillar is the name of a woman who was with Jesus and was a friend of Jesus, financed Jesus, assisted him in so many different ways. Mary Magdalene is one of those women that is on one of those pillars. And I remember standing there around these pillars and walking, and it was when I, I'm going to start. It was when I was really being pulled. I think I went to Israel in, I don't know, I'm thinking 2013. So I've been called out into ministry for only a few years. I've been in ministry all my life, but this is when it really changed. And then I go to Israel and I'm standing there and I have an encounter with God. Because I was raised to believe that women were not allowed to speak. Women were only allowed to teach a Sunday school class. Women were only allowed to maybe sing in the worship, but oh my goodness, you couldn't have a really vibrant ministry as a woman. You were to stand, just as Josh talked about, behind your husband, not beside him. And yet here I am being called out as many of the women. There was 450 of us in that room, into that building that day, all women, except for a few men that were our guides and so forth. And I stood there and I had an encounter with the Lord. And I went, Lord, all these women have done great and mighty things for you. I want to do great and mighty things for you, too. And the Lord started to really look at my motive behind why I said yes to this calling. Because I knew it was going to be hard, and I've had a hard old road. And you talk to any women in ministry, and many of them have a hard road. And I'm not downplaying the men because I know they do too. But what I'm sharing here with you is that there is something about our motives. And I felt this strong sense that I wanted to give back to Jesus a sweet perfume of my life. And it started me on a journey that took me into this intimacy with Jesus. Because, see, I can share with you about, you know, various places that I went to in Israel, but I was in the garden too. And I had a deep, deep encounter with the Lord in the garden. You feel that presence, you feel the agony, you feel it. And I understood to the best degree I could of what Jesus Christ did for me. Mary understood all that. And I think Jesus was saying, now these Greeks, they're coming in, they have a different level of understanding, haven't they? And he's saying, Well, yeah, how do they see me? So I wonder, is our motive just surface level? We need to question ourselves. Is it just out of curiosity? What is the motive behind? Because this is what the Greeks were. They were just out of curiosity. I've heard this, I'm gonna just stand back and observe. I just want to watch. How many times have I seen people do that? They just stand back and watch. Don't want to get too close. Oh, might ask too much. But he's saying here, it's so interesting. The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternity. What does he mean by that? It means we love him more than we do our own life. We love it with everything we have. I think his reply speaks volumes. In fact, I think his message given to these who are probably just observance only, even those who have been honoring Jesus with their lips but not with their hearts. How about those who stand back and do not fully believe? But just linger on the sidelines, constantly on the sidelines. And we have tons of Christian people today who are just lingering on the sidelines. Oh, I'll enter in when it gets going, when the action starts, but they don't want to go through any of the other stuff. I think he said here, I am giving my life for you so that much fruit will come forth. If you give your life to me totally, follow me, serve me, I will always be with you wherever you go, and my father will honor you as well. Do you think that's what he meant? I think so. I felt that in my spirit when he was talking to me about it. See, Jesus knows the depth of commitment. And as we know, in the next verse, verse 27, it says, and my soul has become troubled. And what am I to say? Father, save me from this hour. He's asking this question. His soul was so heavy and troubled. But he says something really interesting here as he goes along. But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. How many times have I been in the depths of trouble and my soul is so heavy, and I've had to cry out, you know, Lord, I can't do this. I gotta die to myself, my flesh. I can't do it. Will you come through me so that your name will be glorified?

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Not my name. And I know my name is out there.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

I know it is, but it's not about my name. It's about the name of Jesus. We are just working through our names to give him glory. Jesus is showing us this. We are living in troubled times. I don't know about you, but my soul and the souls of many that I talk to are very heavy. I got a call from a 20-year-old two nights ago. I hadn't seen him for about, well, six, seven years. Didn't even know how old he was. I had to ask. He said to me, he said, I'm really troubled. I am so troubled right now, I don't know what to do. And he broke down and he started to cry out to Jesus, and then he got tongues. He started speaking in tongues. And he said, I'm speaking in tongues and I'm flowing and I'm crying and I'm heavy and I'm speaking in tongues, and all of a sudden the Lord said, Call Lois. So we called Lois. And I said to him, I said, I couldn't, I mean, this is his story. He said, I'm 20 years old, I've messed up my life, things are going on, I need to come back to Jesus. I said, All right, let's do it. Right? Let's glorify Jesus in this. This is what's going on here. And then look at this: a voice out of heaven, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. And the crowd who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered. Others were saying, an angel has spoken to him. Honestly, I could feel the heavens and the angels just clapping and praising God for this young man who's coming back into. Well, maybe he didn't never left the kingdom. I'm not saying that. I don't know. But I know he wants Jesus. And I was just a vessel that Jesus was using, and he uses every single one of us in some form or fashion. Don't look at me as anything great. I had an opportunity, and I just did what the Lord told me to do. You have opportunities. Jesus had an opportunity here, but he says something very interesting. He said, This voice has not come for my sake, but for yours. Now judgment is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out, and I am lifted up from the earth, and if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. I think that word if is wrong in there. I think it should have been, and when I am lifted up, all people will draw to him. Jesus knew what was going on. He knew the death. That's what it says. And then the crowd in 34 says, they answered him, We've heard from the law that the Christ is to remain forever. How is it that you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Here we go again. I don't understand. Come on, this is doesn't make sense. This is the people saying this kind of stuff. And Jesus answered very carefully here. And I spoke about this a few Sundays ago. For a little while longer, the light is among you. Walk while you have the light, so that darkness will not overtake you. Also, the one who walks in the darkness does not know where he's going. While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become what sons of light. If we need, we need the light. And we need to become the sons and daughters of light so that we're radiating out Jesus to everybody. Now listen. Verse 37 or 36, Jesus goes, he hides himself. So don't complain when I go and hide myself. There's times when we just need to be in the rest of the Lord, right? Jesus did it. You do it too, right? It's all right. Give yourself permission. But though he had performed many, so many signs in their sight, what does it say? They still were not believing him, in him. So you can have all these signs and wonders. Why are the people still not believing in him? Says this happened so that the word of Israel, the prophet, which he spoke, would be fulfilled. Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah has said, He has blinded their eyes, and he hardened their hearts, so that they will not see with their eyes and understand with their heart and be converted, and so I will not heal them. These things Isaiah said because he saw his glory and he spoke about him. Nevertheless, many, even the rulers, believed in him, but because of the Pharisees, they were not confessing him, so that they would not be excommunicated from the synagogue, for they loved the approval of people rather than the approval of God. Oh my goodness. How often do we approve seek the approval of man more than we do? And we're afraid to say or do anything. I've been there most of my life, I'll tell you. I sit back and I watch and I don't want to speak up, but there's something that's rising up in me, and people are noticing it, that I am not able to do that anymore. I want the approval of God. And if you don't like it, the truth, I'm sorry. You may be blinded. Your hearts may be hardened. We have to start checking this out. Where is the approval? I don't want to be kicked out of church, so I gotta do whatever they tell me to do. No, you do what Jesus tells you to do. Jesus cried out and said, and I'm almost getting done here. The one who believes in me does not only believe only in me, but also in him who sent me. And the one who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that no one who believes in me will remain in darkness. Remember, I talked about it. You see Jesus, you want to walk with him, you're gonna see the Heavenly Father too. You're gonna recognize the Holy Spirit. Because why? You don't need to stay on the darkness, you can be in the light. That's what it says. If you want to remain in darkness, that's your choice. But the truth of all this is you get to stay in the light, and that's what he was doing. He's teaching us some things here. He said, if anyone hears my teaching and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world. What did he come for? But to save the world. He's here to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not accept my teachings has one who judges him, the word which I spoke, that will judge him on the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but for by the Father who sent me, has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak, and I know that his commandment is eternal life. Therefore the things I speak I speak just as the Father speaks. Strong word, isn't it? I know.

SPEAKER_01 39:28

So heavy on my heart. I gave my life sort of when I was twenty-two. I gave him more when I was in my thirties.

SPEAKER_00 39:52

I'll be honest with you, when I turned 50, the Lord said, Now I want you to do this. And I've been kind of joking with a lot of people because I've mentioned a lot of times, I guess I don't know, I guess it was at the book study that I went to um as the author of the book that they were reading. I kept on saying, Lord, I don't want to do it. I'd argue with the Lord, I don't want to do this. So at age 50, when he called me to do even greater things, I said, again, Lord, I don't want to do that. But yet I did. I laid down my life. I said, okay. And I continue to lay down my life. Even when I don't feel like it, even when I know that maybe I I don't have the capabilities of doing something, but he does. And I'll do my part, and he does his part. So I think that's the greatest thing, the greatest gift we can give is can you be like a mustard uh grain of wheat? Sorry, I shifted scripture there. Can you be like a grain of wheat and allow the Lord just to take you so you can sprout in such a magnificent way, and there can be fruit that comes out of it. It's amazing. I don't know if you realize, but I didn't want to write that book, Betrayal One. I didn't want to. I fought the Lord, I fought Him for four years on this. And the Lord said, It's time to write. I wrote it. But I will tell you the fruit that is coming out of that book because it is a word from the Lord, not me. And it's not even, I don't even have a lot of my my own experiences in it. I have experiences from everybody else that I've worked with. The Lord will put amazing fruit in your life if you just give it give yourself over. So let's just bow our heads. So, Lord, I thank you for today. I thank you, Lord. You do the business now. It's I've done my part. Now, Lord, I ask that you will do your part. You're the one that is wooing us, calling us, asking us. And so, Lord God, we just want to present back our gift to you today of love, adoration, for who you are and what you've been doing even now in this season, Lord God. And I thank you for the fruit. I thank you for all the fruit that is gonna come forth because we've committed to give our lives over to you. Give you praise and honor in your precious name. Amen. Amen.