The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

“Do something spectacular,” the devil says: “make a name for yourself. Get a reputation. Show them something they’ve never seen before. Prove God exists already so that they believe!”

The first temptation is about our appetite for the material gratifications of life. The second about our ambitions to power and control. The third is about our desire for approval. “You’ll prove yourself and show them all,” the devil says: “these worshipers will never doubt you again. They’ll clap, they’ll cheer, they’ll know you’re God and they’ll finally love you.”

How much don’t we do in our life to impress or gain the approval of someone else? Or to gain a place of belonging for ourselves in the group? Whether it’s from our parents, our spouse, our boss or peers, many of us push to earn the approval we crave. Sometimes at great lengths and great cost, all for the elusive prise of getting a smile, a digital like, or even love itself.

But again, like the pursuits of our appetite and ambitions, our pursuit of approval leaves us empty and bitter more often than it leaves us full of the love we desire.

Because the love we long for isn’t earned. Love is a gift, not a transaction. It can’t be earned or won by a good performance, report card, or reputable position. Love is given. As God does in our baptisms when he says: “you are my child, whom I love: with you I am well pleased.”

The invitation is simply to receive this identity we already have as the beloved children of God, approved by him not because of what we have done, but simply out of his good, gracious gift in Jesus.

So when the devil—questioning Jesus’ sonship—tells him to take a flying leap to prove God good to his word, Jesus comes back with the voice of truth from scripture that there is no need to put God to the test. Jesus knows who he is. He is God’s beloved son. And no ploy from the devil will make him doubt it or feel the need to prove it—not to himself nor to the throng of worshipers below.

Now, we’re not Jesus. And we do doubt God’s love sometimes, even as we doubt our imperfect places of human love and belonging sometimes. I think God knew we would, and so he gave us a sign to remind us: not a gimmicky showman Jesus performing angelic dare-devil stunts, but a humble, faithful Jesus who was quite literally dying to love us.

It is only in receiving this unconditional, unflinching love of God in Jesus Christ that we begin to learn what it means to be loved. It is only rooted in this love of God that adopts us as children with a home and place of belonging that we begin to feel safe and trusting enough to offer the same love to others.